Investigation of improving the conversion efficiency in GaAs power converter modules under uniform and non-uniform illumination

We prepared two types of GaAs power converter modules with different configurations. One had the structure with nine cells wired in a 3-series and a 3-parallel configuration. The other had the structure with nine cells wired in a cross configuration. We investigated the photoelectric conversion efficiency ηpv of these modules under uniform and non-uniform laser light. As a result, under uniform irradiation, both modules achieved almost the same ηpv values of around 38%. On the other hand, under non-uniform irradiation, both modules exhibited lower ηpv values compared to those under uniform irradiation. However, the module with a cross configuration showed a higher ηpv of 32.3% compared to 29.9% for the module with a 3-series and 3-parallel configuration. We can expect further improvements in ηpv by optimizing the module design.