New-type of ultralight flexible a-Si solar cell and its application on an airplane

Author

Kishi, Y. ; Inoue, H. ; Tanaka, H. ; Kouzuma, S. ; Murata, K. ; Sakai, S. ; Nishikuni, M. ; Wakisaka, K. ; Shibuya, H. ; Nishiwaki, H. ; Takeoka, A. ; Kuwano, Y.

Author_Institution

Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., Osaka, Japan

fYear

1991

fDate

7-11 Oct 1991

Firstpage

1213

Abstract

An ultralight flexible a-Si solar cell fabricated on a transparent film substrate has been developed. High photoconductivity (σph) of 2×10^-5 Ω^-1 cm^-1 and high photosensitivity (σph/σd) of 1×10⁶ were obtained with a-Si films deposited by H₂-dilution of SiH₄ on a transparent film substrate at 180°C. Prebaking the transparent film substrate effectively reduced the impurity content of the a-Si film. A maximum output power of 550 mW and a power-to-weight ratio of 275 mW/g were obtained for an integrated-type a-Si solar cell with a size of 110×115 mm. As the first application of this flexible a-Si solar cell, a solar-powered airplane has been developed, and it completed a transcontinental flight across the United States

Keywords

aircraft; amorphous semiconductors; elemental semiconductors; silicon; solar cells; 550 mW; amorphous Si solar cells; maximum output power; photoconductivity; photosensitivity; semiconductor; solar-powered airplane; transcontinental flight; transparent film substrate; ultralight flexible solar cells; Airplanes; Electrodes; Impurities; Lab-on-a-chip; Photovoltaic cells; Power generation; Resins; Substrates; Temperature; Thermal decomposition;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1991., Conference Record of the Twenty Second IEEE

Conference_Location

Las Vegas, NV

Print_ISBN

0-87942-636-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1991.169403

Filename

169403