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Radiation Tolerant Nanowire Array Solar Cells

Journal Article · · ACS Nano
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [1];  [1];  [5];  [1];  [4];  [2];  [7];  [1]
  1. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
  2. Lund Univ., Lund (Sweden)
  3. Lund Univ., Lund (Sweden); Inst. for Energy Technology, Kjeller (Norway)
  4. Sol Voltaics AB, Lund (Sweden)
  5. The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA (United States)
  6. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  7. Lund Univ., Lund (Sweden); Sol Voltaics AB, Lund (Sweden)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Space power systems require photovoltaics that are lightweight, efficient, reliable, and capable of operating for years or decades in space environment. Current solar panels use planar multi-junction, III-V based solar cells with very high efficiency, but their specific power (power to weight ratio) is limited by the added mass of radiation shielding (e.g. coverglass) required to protect the cells from the high-energy particle radiation that occurs in space. Here we demonstrate that III-V nanowire-array solar cells have dramatically superior radiation performance relative to planar solar cell designs and show this for multiple cell geometries and materials, including GaAs and InP. Nanowire cells exhibit damage thresholds ranging from ~10-40 times higher than planar control solar cells when subjected to irradiation by 100-350 keV protons and 1 MeV electrons. Furthermore, using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that this improvement is due in part to a reduction in the displacement defect generation within the wires arising from their nanoscale dimensions. Radiation tolerance, combined with the efficient optical absorption and the improving performance of nanowire photovoltaics, indicates that nanowire arrays could provide a pathway to realize high-specific-power, substrate-free, III-V space solar cells with substantially reduced shielding requirements. More broadly, the exceptional reduction in radiation damage suggests that nanowire architectures may be useful in improving the radiation tolerance of other electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Defense Programs (DP)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1572270
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5900-73775
Journal Information:
ACS Nano, Journal Name: ACS Nano Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 13; ISSN 1936-0851
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Figures / Tables (5)

Figure 1(p. 33)figure Figure 1
Figure 2(p. 35)figure Figure 2
Figure 3(p. 35)figure Figure 3
Figure 4(p. 36)figure Figure 4
Figure 5(p. 37)figure Figure 5

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Monte Carlo simulations
high specific power
irradiation-induced defects
nanowire solar cells
radiation hard
space environment
space solar cells