Radiation and temperature effects in gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, and silicon solar cellsThe effects of radiation on performance are determined for both n+p and p+n GaAs and InP cells and for silicon n+p cells. It is found that the radiation resistance of InP is greater than that of both GaAs and Si under 1-MeV electron irradiation. For silicon, the observed decreased radiation resistance with decreased resistivity is attributed to the presence of a radiation-induced boron-oxygen defect. Comparison of radiation damage in both p+n and n+p GaAs cells yields a decreased radiation resistance for the n+p cell attributable to increased series resistance, decreased shunt resistance, and relatively greater losses in the cell's p-region. For InP, the n+p configuration is found to have greater radiation resistance than the p+n cell. The increased loss in this latter cell is attributed to losses in the cell's emitter region. Temperature dependency results are interpreted using a theoretical relation for dVoc/dT, which predicts that increased Voc should result in decreased numerical values for dPm/dT. The predicted correlation is observed for GaAs but not for InP, a result which is attributed to variations in cell processing.
Document ID
19880047094
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Weinberg, I. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Swartz, C. K. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Hart, R. E., Jr. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Statler, R. L. (U.S. Navy, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC, United States)