Énergie innovante et recherche

Abstrait

Solar Building Design Using GaAs PV Cells for Optimum Energy Consumption

Haris Pouyafar

Gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells are widely used in applications, like spacecraft and satellites because they
have a high absorption coefficient, efficiency and can withstand high energy particles such as electrons and protons.
With the energy crisis there's a growing need for efficiency and cost effective solar cells. GaAs cells with their 46%
efficiency compared to silicon cells 23% can be utilized in buildings to achieve nearly zero emissions. This way we
can make use of irradiation and convert more solar energy into electricity. III V semiconductors used in these cells
offer performance compared to other technologies available. However despite these advantages Si cells dominate the
market due to their prices. In our study we took an approach by using software from the start to gather all information.
By doing we aimed to design the optimal building that harnesses the full potential of solar energy. Our modeling results
reveal a future, for GaAs cells I utilized the Grasshopper plugin, for modeling and optimization purposes. To assess
radiation, weather data, solar energy levels and other factors I relied on the Ladybug and Honeybee plugins. We
have shown that silicon solar cells may not always be the choice, for meeting electricity demands particularly when
higher power output is required. Therefore when it comes to a power consumption and the available surface area for
photovoltaic (PV) installation it may be necessary to consider efficient solar cell options, like GaAs solar cells. By taking
into account the building requirements and utilizing GaAs technology we were able to optimize the PV surface area.