Imaizumi, M. | Search NASA

NASA NTRS2008

In Situ Irradiation and Measurement of Triple Junction Solar Cells at Low Intensity, Low Temperature (LILT) Conditions

The performance of triple junction InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge space solar cells was studied following high energy electron irradiation at low temperature. Cell characterization was carried out in situ at the irradiation temperature while using low intensity illumination, and, as such, these conditions reflect those found for deep space, solar powered missions that are far from the sun. Cell characterization consisted of I-V measurements and quantum efficiency measurements. The low temperature irradiations caused substantial degradation that differs in some ways from that seen after room temperature irradiations. The short circuit current degrades more at low temperature while the open circuit voltage degrades more at room temperature. A room temperature anneal after the low temperature irradiation produced a substantial recovery in the degradation. Following irradiation at both temperatures and an extended room temperature anneal, quantum efficiency measurement suggests that the bulk of the remaining damage is in the (In)GaAs sub-cell

Quantum Efficiency↗

NASA NTRS2007

Recovery of Electron/Proton Radiation-Induced Defects in n+p AlInGaP Solar Cell by Minority-Carrier Injection Annealing

A high efficient In0.48Ga0.52P/In0.01Ga0.99As/Ge triple junction solar cell has been developed for application in space and terrestrial concentrator PV system [1-3]. Recently, a high conversion efficiency of 31.5% (AM1.5G) has been obtained in InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge triple junction solar cell, and as a new top cell material of triple junction cells, (Al)InGaP [1] has been proposed to improve the open-circuit voltage (Voc) because it shows a higher Voc of 1.5V while maintaining the same short-circuit current (ISC) as a conventional InGaP top cell under AM1.5G conditions as seen in figure 1 (a). Moreover, the spectral response of 1.96eV AlInGaP cell with a thickness of 2.5..m shows a higher response in the long wavelength region, compared with that of 1.87eV InGaP cell with 0.6..m thickness, as shown in figure 1 (b). Its development will realize next generation multijunction (MJ) solar cells such as a lattice mismatched AlInGaP/InGaAs/Ge 3-junction and lattice matched AlInGaP/GaAs/InGaAsN/Ge 4-junction solar cells. Figure 2 shows the super high-efficiency MJ solar cell structures and wide band spectral response by MJ solar cells under AM1.5G conditions. For realizing high efficient MJ space solar cells, the higher radiation-resistance under the electron or proton irradiation is required. The irradiation studies for a conventional top cell InGaP have been widely done [4-6], but little irradiation work has been performed on AlInGaP solar cells. Recently, we made the first reports of 1 MeV electron or 30 keV proton irradiation effects on AlInGaP solar cells, and evaluated the defects generated by the irradiation [7,8]. The present study describes the recovery of 1 MeV electron / 30 keV proton irradiation-induced defects in n+p- AlInGaP solar cells by minority-carrier injection enhanced annealing or isochronal annealing. The origins of irradiation-induced defects observed by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements are discussed.

Lee, H. S.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Results from the first international AM0

AM0 solar cell calibration laboratories throughout the world are working together to create standard methods for AM0 calibration. In an effort to compare the results of different calibration methods, five different laboratories calibrated GaAs and Si solar cells. The results of this inter-comparison are presented herein.

round robin solar cells AM0 silicon GaAs internati↗