Title :
High-efficiency heteroepitaxial solar cells for space power applications
Author :
Vernon, S.M. ; Tobin, S.P. ; Keavney, C.J. ; Wojtczuk, S.J.
Author_Institution :
Spire Corp., Bedford, MA, USA
Abstract :
The experimental results for several technical approaches aimed at achieving highly efficient solar cells for space-power applications are reported. Efficiencies of up to 24.5% (170X, AM0) and 21.7% (1X, AM0) have been achieved with homoepitaxial GaAs p/n cells. This one-sun AM0 efficiency value is believed to be the highest reported to date. Tandem solar cells utilizing GaAs-on-Ge structures have been fabricated and shown to have efficiencies up to 21.3% (1X, AM0), and a GaAs-on-Si cell at 15.2% (1X, AM0) is reported. Homoepitaxial n/p InP cells with an efficiency of 18.8% (1X, AM0) are also reported. The fabrication of heteroepitaxial InP solar cells with one-sun AM0 efficiency values of 9.4% (on GaAs) and 7.2% (on Si) is described
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; elemental semiconductors; gallium arsenide; germanium; indium compounds; silicon; solar cells; space vehicle power plants; 15.2 percent; 18.8 percent; 21.3 percent; 21.7 percent; 24.5 percent; 7.2 percent; 9.4 percent; GaAs-Ge; GaAs-Si; InP; fabrication; heteroepitaxial solar cells; homoepitaxial cells; n/p InP cells; one-sun AM0 efficiency value; p/n cells; space power applications; tandem solar cells; Coatings; Computer aided analysis; Costs; Fabrication; Gallium arsenide; Indium phosphide; Lattices; MOCVD; Photovoltaic cells; Substrates;
Conference_Titel :
Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, 1989. IECEC-89., Proceedings of the 24th Intersociety
Conference_Location :
Washington, DC
DOI :
10.1109/IECEC.1989.74560
