Micro‐Concentrator Photovoltaics Using Fluidic Self‐Assembly Technology

Abstract This paper is the first to report a simple and cost‐effective method for modularizing an array of gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells on a plastic circuit board using fluidic self‐assembly (FSA) technology and the combination thereof with a polymer lens array to implement micro‐concentrator photovoltaics (micro‐CPV). Using FSA and low‐melting‐point solder, the GaAs cells are successfully self‐assembled into a 2D array in 1 min. Micro‐CPVs consisting of 36 and 256 cells are manufactured by aligning a polymer concentrator fabricated by a drop‐on‐demand droplet dispensed lens array mold on the solar cell array. The micro‐CPVs generate 21.31 and 112.96 mW of power, respectively, under 1 sun AM 1.5G illumination. In each module, only 1.69 and 2.27 mm² of GaAs are used for producing 1 mW; in other words, the implemented micro‐CPV platform consumes 4.21 and 3.14 times less material than a flat‐panel GaAs array. The proposed method for implementing a GaAs‐based solar cell array enables the efficient fabrication of a compact micro‐CPV with a thickness of only 4 mm owing to the absence of a cooling module. This technology is expected to potentially increase the practical usability of III‐V compound solar cells in the energy industry.