Title :
An analysis of spaceflight performance of several types of silicon solar cells on the LIPS III satellite
Author :
Warfield, D. ; Silver, J.
Author_Institution :
Solarex Aerosp. Div., Rockville, MD, USA
Abstract :
Results from the exposure of several types of Solarex silicon solar cells to a space environment for approximately three years on the LIPS III satellite are presented. Experiments include standard thickness (10 mm) cells with and without back surface fields and ultrathin (2 mm) cells with and without back surface reflectors. A comparison between a widely used coverslide adhesive, DC 93-500, and a potential alternative, CV-2500, is also presented. The major findings from the data presented are that the 2 mm cells show the smallest relative power degradation and that the 10 mm back surface field cells show the greatest absolute power output for the environment encountered. The encapsulant exhibits a degradation comparable to DC 93-500
Keywords :
aerospace testing; elemental semiconductors; semiconductor device testing; silicon; solar cells; space vehicle power plants; 10 mm; 2 mm; 3 yrs; CV-2500; DC 93-500; Si solar cells; Solarex; back surface fields; back surface reflectors; coverslide adhesive; encapsulant; power degradation; power output; satellite; semiconductor device testing; space power; spaceflight performance; Aluminum; Degradation; Lips; Performance analysis; Photovoltaic cells; Satellites; Silicon; Silver; Space vehicles; Temperature;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1990., Conference Record of the Twenty First IEEE
Conference_Location :
Kissimmee, FL
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1990.111798
