Title :
Increasing the limiting efficiency of space solar cells at end-of-life
Author :
Walker, David ; De-Ling Liu ; Liu, Simon H.
Author_Institution :
Aerosp. Corp., El Segundo, CA, USA
Abstract :
An absolute increase of 3.73% in the end-of-life efficiency of a six junction, series connected, monolithic solar cell can be achieved as determined by detailed balance calculations. Multijunction solar cells were designed and optimized for three solar spectra: AM 0, AM 0 under a MgF2/ITO coated cerium-doped borosilicate glass, and AM0 under MgF2/ITO cerium-doped borosilicate glass that was irradiated with proton energies and fluences equivalent to 15 years in a GEO orbit. Also, the difference between end-of-life and beginning-of-life efficiency decreases for multi-junction solar cells designed for end-of-life versus those designed for beginning-of-life conditions.
Keywords :
borosilicate glasses; coatings; indium compounds; magnesium compounds; solar cells; GEO orbit; MgF2-ITO; beginning-of-life efficiency; borosilicate glass; coating; end-of-life efficiency; limiting efficiency; multijunction solar cell; proton energy; six junction series connected monolithic solar cell; solar spectra; space solar cell; time 15 year; Degradation; Glass; Indium tin oxide; Junctions; Photonic band gap; Photovoltaic cells; Space vehicles; detailed balance; energy dissipation; energy harvesting; life estimation; photovoltaic cells; semiconductor device modeling;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2013 IEEE 39th
Conference_Location :
Tampa, FL
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2013.6745057
