Thin-film silicon solar cells for space applications: radiation hardness and applications for an integrated Solant (solar cell-antenna) module

Abstract

A new device called "Solant" (for SOLar cellANTenna) is presented in this paper. It is a combination of thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells and flat printed antennas.A proton irradiation campaign has also been carried out on a series of n-i-p amorphous and p-i-n micromorph [microcrystalline (µc-Si:H) and amorphous (a-Si:H)] silicon tandem solar cells. The effect of thermal annealing on solar cells degraded by proton irradiation is investigated.

Thin film silicon solar cells for space applications: Study of proton irradiation and thermal annealing effects on the characteristics of solar cells and individual layers

“…The present paper intends to fill this gap, by reporting on corresponding proton irradiation tests and subsequent annealing experiments. We thereby will complete the experimental data already reported by us in conference papers [7][8][9] and give a tentative interpretation of the observed effects. Our test samples are thin-film silicon solar cells (both amorphous and microcrystalline) as well as individual microcrystalline silicon layers.…”

Mitigation of Vacuum and Illumination-Induced Degradation in Perovskite Solar Cells by Structure Engineering

“…6 As a consequence, thinfilm solar cells, because of their higher specific power (W/g), higher stowed packing efficiency (W/cm 3 ), and low cost have been intensively studied for space applications since the 1960s. The materials investigated include CdS/CuS 2 heterojunction devices, CdTe 3 and lately microcrystalline (mc-Si:H)/amorphous (a-Si:H) silicon tandems, 7 and Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS). 8…”

Film adhesion in amorphous silicon solar cells

“…Being amorphous, a-Si is inherently more flexible than crystalline or polycrystalline materials, as well as radiation resistant (Kuendig et al 2000). While a-Si based flexible cells may be fabricated on thin metal substrates, plastic substrates have the advantage of being insulating, which allows monolithic cell interconnection.…”