Title :
Environmental testing of chemically thinned, lightweight CuInSe2 solar cells
Author :
Kim, N.P. ; Vemvyvelt, M.A. ; Thompson, M. ; Coates, K.
Author_Institution :
Boeing Defense & Space Group, Seattle, WA, USA
Abstract :
Environmental test results performed with chemically thinned, lightweight CuInSe2 (CIS) space power solar cells are presented. CIS solar cells, which were fabricated by a chemical thinning process after CIS device structures had been formed on thick substrates, produced high efficiency devices. Pyroshock/random vibration, off-angle and thermal cycling tests were conducted with test conditions matching or exceeding the requirement for the PASP Plus space flight experiment. All phases of testing were monitored and produced favorable results. Electrical performance and physical inspection confirm its viability for space power applications. Environmental test procedures as well as the test results obtained are described in detail
Keywords :
aerospace testing; copper compounds; environmental testing; indium compounds; mechanical testing; photovoltaic power systems; semiconductor device testing; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; space vehicle power plants; ternary semiconductors; CuInSe2; CuInSe2 space power solar cells; PASP Plus space flight experiment; chemical thinning process; electrical performance; environmental testing; lightweight solar cells; off-angle tests; physical inspection; pyroshock tests; random vibration tests; thermal cycling tests; thick substrates; Chemical processes; Computational Intelligence Society; Costs; Electric resistance; Electric variables measurement; Gallium arsenide; Performance evaluation; Photovoltaic cells; Testing; Thermal conductivity;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1996., Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Washington, DC
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3166-4
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1996.564007
