The space performance of silicon vertical junction solar cells on the LIPS III satellite

The preliminary analysis and results are presented of a space experiment to evaluate the performance of a new generation of silicon vertical junction solar cells and three adhesives for attaching coverglass to the solar cells. Two of the adhesives are used for the first time in coverglass applications in the space environment. The Solarex vertical junction solar cells, which are of 10 Omega cm silicon with back surface fields and back surface reflectors, are compared to Solarex planar junction cells of the same silicon. The results for up to 386 days in space indicate that the two types of solar cell show about the same degradation rate in power output. There are no significant differences in the performance of the three adhesives.