Flexible space solar cell array with radiation shield fabricated by guided-printing of cover glasses

Kwak, Pyo; Kim, Namyun; Kim, Juho; Kim, Dahye; Song, Kwangsung; Lee, Jongho

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2017.05.019

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…By removing the growth substrate completely, the resultant solar cells consist of lightweight and flexible thin‐film devices. These cells no longer require to be mounted on rigid panels for application, and when combined with new technologies for flexible front cover‐glasses and mounting and deployment systems have the potential to reach specific mass of 0.6 kg/m 2 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron radiation–induced degradation of GaAs solar cells with different architectures

Gruginskie

Cappelluti

Bauhuis

et al. 2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

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The effects of electron irradiation on the performance of GaAs solar cells with a range of architectures is studied. Solar cells with shallow and deep junction designs processed on the native wafer as well as into a thin‐film were irradiated by 1‐MeV electrons with fluence up to 1×1015 e−/cm2. The degradation of the cell performance due to irradiation was studied experimentally and theoretically using model simulations, and a coherent set of minority carriers' lifetime damage constants was derived. The solar cell performance degradation primarily depends on the junction depth and the thickness of the active layers, whereas the material damage shows to be insensitive to the cell architecture and fabrication steps. The modeling study has pointed out that besides the reduction of carriers lifetime, the electron irradiation strongly affects the quality of hetero‐interfaces, an effect scarcely addressed in the literature. It is demonstrated that linear increase with the electron fluence of the surface recombination velocity at the front and rear hetero‐interfaces of the solar cell accurately describes the degradation of the spectral response and of the dark current characteristic upon irradiation. A shallow junction solar cell processed into a thin‐film device has the lowest sensitivity to electron radiation, showing an efficiency at the end of life equivalent to 82% of the beginning‐of‐life efficiency.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron radiation–induced degradation of GaAs solar cells with different architectures

Gruginskie

Cappelluti

Bauhuis

et al. 2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

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“…When comparing single junction GaAs solar cells in the thin‐film or wafer‐based designs, the advantages of the wafer‐based architecture are mainly the more mature and quick processing route. The thin‐film architecture presents as main advantages the reduced weight and potential of reduced costs with the removal and reuse of the wafer, 3‐5 possibility of utilizing thinner epilayers with the application of a back reflector that increases the light optical path 6‐8 ; increased resilience to particle irradiation for space application due to the reduced thickness, 9,10 bendability, 11‐14 and increased photon recycling due to reflectance of emitted photons 15‐19 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limiting mechanisms for photon recycling in thin‐film GaAs solar cells

Gruginskie

Cappelluti

Bauhuis

et al. 2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Photon recycling mechanisms in single junction thin‐film GaAs solar cells are evaluated in this study. Modelling supported by experimentally obtained results is used in order to correlate the reflectance of the cell's rear layers, the photon recycling probability, and the solar cell performance. Solar cells with different top and bottom metallization configurations are produced, and their performance is analyzed from the optical and electrical point of view. It is shown that the photon recycling probability increases with the rear mirror reflectance and solar cell thickness, which results in the increase of the devices open circuit voltage. However, the front grid coverage, usually disregarded in rear mirror focused studies, strongly reduces the photon recycling probability. Furthermore, perimeter and interface recombination hinder the internal radiative efficiency of the solar cells, preventing further increase of the devices' open circuit voltage as a result of improvements of the rear mirror reflectivity. In order to exploit the significant benefit of increased photon recycling probability to the solar cell performance, these limiting mechanisms need to be properly addressed.

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“…An optimal procedure based on the use of Kapton as primary sealing and glue bonded glass as secondary sealing was identified. Kwak et al 10 produced multijunction solar cell arrays with flexibility and radiation shielding suitable for space applications by removing the rigid substrates and integrating the thin solar cells on flexible substrates. La Notte et al 11 used a spray coating to deposit all the layers of flexible polymer solar cells starting from PET/ITO/Ag/ITO substrates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inflexible silicon solar cell encapsulation process on curved surfaces: Experimental investigation

Kassaei

Rafiei

Torabi

2020

Env Prog and Sustain Energy

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The process of encapsulating solar cells on curved surfaces is one of the most challenging subjects today and has been widely studied. In most studies, thin‐film and flexible cells have been chosen for curved surfaces. In this article, a new method is proposed to carry out the process of encapsulating a solar cell on the curved surfaces using inflexible silicon solar cell. In this method, transparent epoxy resin is injected into the solar cell area using an embedded mold. Once the resin is cured and the mold is removed, the obtained surface forms the desired curved shape. This method can be used for fixed curved surfaces that are not exposed to tension. The method was performed on a sectional sample of a wind turbine blade which resulted in a curved and transparent layer on the cells. Then the section was tested under the environmental condition and exposed to direct sunlight. The results showed a normal performance of the cell with high efficiency and a maximum error rate of 8% compared to the laboratory report of the manufacturer. Voltage and current of the cell were normal in this experiment. The I–V curve diagram showed the standard behavior of cells as well. The maximum power output from the section was 1.308 W. Results showed that this method is suitable for solid curved surfaces to be used as a photovoltaic module.

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Flexible space solar cell array with radiation shield fabricated by guided-printing of cover glasses

Cited by 18 publications

References 36 publications

Electron radiation–induced degradation of GaAs solar cells with different architectures

Electron radiation–induced degradation of GaAs solar cells with different architectures

Limiting mechanisms for photon recycling in thin‐film GaAs solar cells

Inflexible silicon solar cell encapsulation process on curved surfaces: Experimental investigation

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