High-temperature AlGaP/GaP solar cells for NASA space missions

A number of proposed NASA missions would benefit from solar arrays with the ability to operate at high temperature and high sunlight intensities. Solar cells based on semiconductors with high bandgap seem a good choice for this application. GaP or AlGaP can be considered as the least expensive high bandgap material. We present our experimental data on the performance characteristics of AlGaP/GaP solar cells. Different ways of the cell fabrication are compared and discussed focusing on the quality and price issues.