ASEC/Air Force LIPS-3 test panel results

Author

Iles, P.A. ; Chang, K.I. ; Ling, K.S. ; Chu, C. ; Wise, J. ; Morris, R.K.

fYear

1988

fDate

1988

Firstpage

826

Abstract

Preorbit and in-orbit test panel results are presented. The test panel contained three types of solar cell: GaAs/Ge, GaAs, and silicon. The test results showed anomalies in tracking the cell performance in ground tests and into orbit. There was also in-orbit degradation greater than that expected from the radiation models used for the LIPS-3 orbit. With these reservations, the GaAs/Ge cell performance confirmed recent advances in explaining the electrical performance of these cells. Both the GaAs/Ge and GaAs cells have deeper p-n junction depths than current cells, and this probably caused some of the in-orbit degradation. For the silicon cells, the in-orbit degradation was greater than expected for their design and may have been affected by mechanical factors in panel assembly or mounting on the satellite.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; artificial satellites; elemental semiconductors; gallium arsenide; germanium; semiconductor device testing; silicon; solar cells; space vehicle power plants; GaAs; GaAs-Ge; LIPS-3; Si; degradation; design; electrical performance; military systems; p-n junction; satellite; semiconductor device testing; solar cell; space vehicle power plant; Assembly; Degradation; Gallium arsenide; Mechanical factors; P-n junctions; Photovoltaic cells; Satellites; Silicon; Solar energy; Telemetry; Temperature; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1988., Conference Record of the Twentieth IEEE

Conference_Location

Las Vegas, NV, USA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1988.105820

Filename

105820