Lightweight (AlGaAs)GaAs/CuInSe/sub 2/ tandem junction solar cells for space applications

Author

Kim, N.P. ; Stanbery, B.J. ; Burgess, R.M. ; Mickelsen, R.A. ; McClelland, R.W. ; King, B.D. ; Gale, R.P.

Author_Institution

Boeing Aerosp. & Electron., Seattle, WA, USA

Volume

4

Issue

11

fYear

1989

Firstpage

23

Lastpage

32

Abstract

Mechanically stacked tandem cells consisting of GaAs thin-film upper cells and CuInSe/sub 2/ thin-film lower cells have been developed to meet the increasing power needs projected for future spacecraft. The authors report the fabrication of the first highly efficient lightweight GaAs/CuInSe/sub 2/ tandem cell on a 2-mil thick substrate, update recent performance improvements in thin-film GaAs/CuInSe/sub 2/ tandem cells, and discuss their application to space power systems. The efficiency of 4-cm/sup 2/ cells has improved to 21.6% AM0, the highest ever reported for a thin-film photovoltaic cell. Lightweight 4-cm/sup 2/ tandem cells have been successfully fabricated with efficiencies as high as 20.8%. These cells weighed about 180 mg without optimized substrate trimming. Radiation and operating temperature effects on GaAs/CuInSe/sub 2/ tandem cells are also discussed, and an interconnect scheme to form a voltage-matched string is described.<>

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; copper compounds; gallium arsenide; indium compounds; photovoltaic cells; semiconductor materials; solar cells; space vehicle power plants; 20.8 percent; 21.6 percent; AlGaAs-GaAs-CuInSe/sub 2/; space applications; space power systems; tandem junction solar cells; thin-film photovoltaic cell; Aerospace electronics; Computational Intelligence Society; Electrodes; Fabrication; Gallium arsenide; Photonic band gap; Photovoltaic cells; Space vehicles; Substrates; Transistors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-8985

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/62.41751

Filename

41751