Amorphous silicon thin films: The ultimate lightweight space solar cell
Progress is reported with respect to the development of thin film amorphous (alpha-Si) terrestrial solar cells for space applications. Such devices promise to result in very lightweight, low cost, flexible arrays with superior end of life (EOL) performance. Each alpha-Si cell consists of a tandem arrangement of three very thin p-i-n junctions vapor deposited between film electrodes. The thickness of this entire stack is approximately 2.0 microns, resulting in a device of negligible weight, but one that must be mechanically supported for handling and fabrication into arrays. The stack is therefore presently deposited onto a large area (12 by 13 in), rigid, glass superstrate, 40 mil thick, and preliminary space qualification testing of modules so configured is underway. At the same time, a more advanced version is under development in which the thin film stack is transferred from the glass onto a thin (2.0 mil) polymer substrate to create large arrays that are truly flexible and significantly lighter than either the glassed alpha-Si version or present conventional crystalline technologies. In this paper the key processes for such effective transfer are described. In addition, both glassed (rigid) and unglassed (flexible) alpha-Si cells are studied when integrated with various advanced structures to form lightweight systems. EOL predictions are generated for the case of a 1000 W array in a standard, 10 year geosynchronous (GEO) orbit. Specific powers (W/kg), power densities (W/sq m) and total array costs ($/sq ft) are compared.
- Research Organization:
- NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 36423
- Report Number(s):
- N-95-20502; NASA-CP-3278; E-9083; NAS-1.55:3278; CONF-9406314-; TRN: 9520515
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 13. space photovoltaic research and technology conference, Cleveland, OH (United States), 14-16 Jun 1994; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the 13th Space Photovoltaic Research and Technology Conference (SPRAT 13); PB: 421 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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