Abstract

The potential of laminated solar cells, namely a Standard p-type, PERC, Bifacial and IBC, was calculated considering a Solar Spectrum of Atacama Desert, the Transmittance of glass-encapsulant-glass structures and External Quantum Efficiency. Using these data, the maximum theoretical value of the current density, which can be photo-generated, was determined. Regarding the solar spectrum in Atacama, an average air mass (AM) at noon for this location in Atacama Desert averaged 1.17 and the PV modules tilt angle 20°. When studying the impact of using glass and encapsulants combined with a solar cell under the same solar spectrum, EVA with low UV encapsulant led to the higher current density values, up to 2% higher with the IBC solar cell compared to the other solar cells. The highest current gain, when studying the impact of the two spectra in the 300-1200 nm wavelength range, was 7.4% obtained with a standard 3.2 mm glass, a thermoplastic material as encapsulant for the IBC solar cell. Considering the UV part of the spectrum, the current gain was maximized with a glass with an anti reflection coating combined with the TM encapsulant for the IBC solar cell (25%).