Environmental testing of inverted metamorphic solar cells for space

Author

Rehder, E.M. ; Jun, Byung-Jun ; Chiu, Pi-Feng ; Wierman, S. ; Edmondson, K. ; Liu, X.-Q. ; Mesropian, S. ; Pien, P. ; Boisvert, J. ; Karam, N.H.

Author_Institution

Spectrolab, Inc., Sylmar, CA, USA

fYear

2014

fDate

8-13 June 2014

Firstpage

3608

Lastpage

3611

Abstract

Inverted metamorphic (IMM) solar cells are being pursued for space applications. This work examines their extended performance under key environmental conditions. Electron irradiation with 1 MeV electrons found 81% of the power remained after exposure to 1e15/ cm² fluence. Test strings mounted on rigid panels were subjected to 11,000 thermal cycles without electrical degradation. Thermal soak testing at 250 °C identified 1% of efficiency loss, equivalent to production devices. No performance loss was found after 30 days of humidity exposure. These tests verify the integrity of IMM devices, while matching measurements by NREL confirm the quality of Spectrolab´s IMM testing method.

Keywords

aerospace testing; environmental testing; humidity; solar cells; IMM solar cells; NREL; Spectrolab IMM testing method; electron irradiation; electron volt energy 1 MeV; environmental testing; humidity exposure; inverted metamorphic solar cells; key environmental conditions; rigid panels; space applications; temperature 250 degC; thermal cycles; thermal soak testing; Degradation; Humidity; Performance evaluation; Photovoltaic cells; Radiation effects; Temperature measurement; Testing; environmental; humidity; inverted metamorphic; radiation; thermal;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2014 IEEE 40th

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2014.6924887

Filename

6924887