Title :
Thin, light-trapping silicon solar cells for space
Author :
Landis, Geoffrey A.
Author_Institution :
NASA Lewis Res. Center, Cleveland, OH, USA
Abstract :
Ultrathin silicon solar cells with high efficiency and radiation tolerance can be made by incorporating light-trapping and heterojunction surface passivation. Calculations show that a 2 mu m-thick light-trapping cell remains over 18% efficient after the equivalent of 20 years in geosynchronous orbit. Including a 50 mu m coverglass, the thin cells had, after irradiation, a specific power over ten times higher than that of the baseline design.
Keywords :
elemental semiconductors; p-n heterojunctions; passivation; silicon; solar cells; 18 percent; Si solar cells; coverglass; geosynchronous orbit; heterojunction surface passivation; high efficiency; light-trapping; radiation tolerance; semiconductor; Absorption; Geometrical optics; Heterojunctions; NASA; Optical refraction; Optical surface waves; Optical variables control; Orbital calculations; Passivation; Photovoltaic cells; Ray tracing; Silicon;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1988., Conference Record of the Twentieth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Las Vegas, NV, USA
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1988.105794
