Thin film cadmium telluride solar cells on ultra‐thin glass in low earth orbit—3 years of performance data on the AlSat‐1N CubeSat mission

Abstract

This paper details 3 years of cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic performance onboard the AlSat‐1N CubeSat in low earth orbit. These are the first CdTe solar cells to yield I–V measurements from space and help to strengthen the argument for further development of this technology for space application. The data have been collected over some 17 000 orbits by the CubeSat with the cells showing no signs of delamination, no deterioration in short circuit current or series resistance. The latter indicating that the aluminium‐doped zinc oxide transparent front electrode performance remained stable over the duration. Effects of temperature on open circuit voltage (Voc) were observed with a calculated temperature coefficient for Voc of −0.19%/°C. Light soaking effects were also observed to increase the Voc. The fill factor decreased over the duration of the mission with a major contribution being a decrease in shunt resistance of all four of the cells. The decrease in shunt resistance is speculated to result from gold diffusion from the rear contacts into the absorber and through to the front interface. This has likely resulted in the formation of a deep trap state within the CdTe and micro shunts formed between the rear and front contact. Further development of this technology should therefore utilise more stable back contacting methodologies more commonly employed for terrestrial CdTe modules.

Perspective Chapter: Technological Advances in Harnessing Energy from Renewable Sources for Water Production

“…A cadmium telluride layer as a p-type semiconductor is used as the light-adsorbing layer. A piece of ITO-coated glass as the front electrode, a layer of polycrystalline cadmium sulfide (n-type semiconductor) serves as a window layer, and an Al or Au layer deposited as the back electrode is the other vital layer making this family of solar cells [35].…”

Tunable Photovoltaics: Adapting Solar Cell Technologies to Versatile Applications

“…[19,197] Recently, apart from the standard c-Si and III-Vbased SCs, a growing interest was attributed to testing different emerging PV technologies such as perovskite and organic for potential aerospace applications (Figure 15f). [523,[539][540][541][542][543][544] This opens new opportunities for thermal and bandgap tuning in such thin-film PVs to further promote their integration.…”

Anode interfacial modification for non‐fullerene polymer solar cells: Recent advances and prospects

“…Several types of solar cells such as Si‐based solar cells, cadmium telluride (CdTe), and cadmium indium gallium selenide (CIGS) are commercially available. Although these solar cells exhibit a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 24% with an average lifetime of 25 years; however, the processing cost, and utilization of rare and hazardous elements restrain their application 1–6 . Interestingly, polymer solar cells (PSCs) offer several advantages such as light‐weight, low‐cost, solution processability, and large area roll‐to‐roll (R2R) fabrication on a plastic substrate 7–10 …”

“…exhibit a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 24% with an average lifetime of 25 years; however, the processing cost, and utilization of rare and hazardous elements restrain their application. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Interestingly, polymer solar cells (PSCs) offer several advantages such as light-weight, low-cost, solution processability, and large area roll-to-roll (R2R) fabrication on a plastic substrate. [7][8][9][10] PSCs are composed of a photoactive layer commonly called bulk heterojunction (BHJ) sandwiched between cathode interlayer (CIL) and anode interlayer (AIL).…”