Impact of radiative cooling on the thermal behavior of multi-junction solar cells

Thermal radiation is a key aspect of solar cell thermal management. In this work we study, through detailed balance and multiphysics simulations, the thermal behavior of multi-junction solar cells and the impact of different radiative cooling designs on their achievable efficiency. We discuss the influence of the mid-infrared emissivity of the semiconductors constituting the cell and possible encapsulating materials, with the goal of evaluating the performance improvements achievable with an ideal thermal emitter