Ozone Correction for AM0 Calibrated Solar Cells for the Aircraft Method

The aircraft solar cell calibration method has provided cells calibrated to space conditions for 37 years. However, it is susceptible to systematic errors due to ozone concentrations in the stratosphere. The present correction procedure applies a 1 percent increase to the measured I(sub SC) values. High band-gap cells are more sensitive to ozone absorbed wavelengths (0.4 to 0.8 microns) so it becomes important to reassess the correction technique. This paper evaluates the ozone correction to be 1+O3xFo, where O3 is the total ozone along the optical path, and Fo is 29.8 x 10(exp -6)/du for a Silicon solar cell, 42.6 x 10(exp -6)/du for a GaAs cell and 57.2 x 10(exp -6)/du for an InGaP cell. These correction factors work best to correct data points obtained during the flight rather than as a correction to the final result.