Evaluation of thin‐film solar cell temperature coefficients for space applications

Abstract

At present, commercially available thin-film photovoltaic cells are evaluated for terrestrial applications. To apply thin-film photovoltaic cells for space applications, the assessment of the solar cell performance must be conducted in simulated space conditions. We investigated the temperature coefficients of the I-V characteristics of thinfilm amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cells manufactured by Uni-Solar and Iowa Thin Film Technologies, and CuInGaSe 2 (CIGS) solar cells manufactured by MicroSat Systems with simulated space solar radiation. The temperature coefficient of the thin-film solar cells between temperatures of 15 and 100 C was measured with a temperature-controlled vacuum plate. The vacuum plate ensures maximum thermal contact between the plate and the solar cell as well as reducing the thermal gradient in the solar cell. The vacuum plate also serves as a thermal reservoir that provides temperature stability during the performance evaluation when the solar cell is exposed to simulated sunlight radiation. An X-25 sunlight simulator calibrated for AM0 conditions provides the necessary radiation in performance characterization of the thin-film solar cell. The I-V characteristics of the solar cell were obtained at various temperatures to gain a thorough knowledge of the cell's performance at different temperatures.

Self-Elimination of Intrinsic Defects Improves the Low-Temperature Performance of Perovskite Photovoltaics

“…Extremely low temperatures (ranging from 220 to 290 K) are inevitable for photovoltaic technologies applied in near space or polar regions. Often in this temperature regime, the temperature coefficients are negative in conventional solar cells 25 but not yet clear in perovskite photovoltaics. Rapid progress has been witnessed to verify the operational feasibility of perovskite solar cells at low temperatures.…”

“…Photovoltaic devices for space applications have strict requirements, including high PCE with high specific power and specific volume, tolerance of space radiation damage, and stable performance through thermal cycling. 25 Perovskite solar cells have proven most of the advantages of high specific power and impressive mechanical flexibility. 26 Also, originating from the ionic nature of perovskites, these cells have shown improved tolerance against high-energy proton or electron irradiation as compared to conventional photovoltaics.…”

A strategy for improving deactivation of catalytic combustion at low temperature via synergistic photocatalysis

“…Therefore, integrating mild thermocatalysis into photocatalysis should be promising for utilizing idle IR energy, which is helpless in driving most photocatalysis because of the energy limit. However, IR-induced solar heating is generally repulsive in photocatalysis, as it usually leads to severe lattice vibration, damaging the photon-to-electron conversion [20]. Recently, we proposed a feasible strategy to address above IR-related contradiction, by integrating solid state ionics into photocatalysis [21].…”

Perceiving the temperature coefficients of carbon-based perovskite solar cells

“…It has been observed that the three most widely commercialized thin-film solar cells such as α-Si, CdTe and copper indium gallium selenide, the T C value is negative. 37,38 Although, they are highly effective in large scale operation. Negative T C value normally implies that with the increase of temperature, the parameter of interest will decrease, which can affect the performance of solar cell in a hot climate.…”