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Advanced Iii-V Multijunction Cells for Space Presented at the 4th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Waikoloa, Hawaii, May 7-12, 2006 ADVANCED III-V MULTIJUNCTION CELLS FOR SPACE Richard R. King, Christopher M. Fetzer, Daniel C. Law, Kenneth M. Edmondson, Hojun Yoon, Geoffrey S. Kinsey, Dimitri D. Krut, James H. Ermer, Peter Hebert, B. Terence Cavicchi, and Nasser H. Karam Spectrolab, Inc., 12500 Gladstone Ave., Sylmar, CA 91342 USA ABSTRACT The weight and volume of a stowed solar array have III-V solar cells have become the dominant power always been paramount concerns for photovoltaic power generation technology in space, due to their unparalleled generation systems on satellites, due to the tremendous high efficiency, reliability in the space environment, and cost of lifting a payload into orbit. Now III-V multijunction ability to be integrated into very lightweight panels. As cell technology seems poised to combine the stellar remarkable as these attributes are, new types of space III- efficiencies of this type of cell with the high specific power V solar cells are continually reaching new heights in (W/kg) and very small stowage volume of flexible performance. Commercially-available multijunction solar photovoltaic blanket arrays. cells with 30% conversion efficiency under the AM0 space Reliability of space cells under the extreme conditions spectrum are just around the corner. Understanding of of launch and space operation is also critically important. radiation resistance and thermal cycling reliability has Radiation exposure, thermal cycling, vibration, atomic reached levels never before attained, and is resulting in oxygen, contamination from volatile materials, and new standards of reliability. A flurry of research activity electrostatic discharge are all part of operating in the has resulted in very-thin, flexible, and extremely space environment, and must therefore be part of the lightweight space solar cells and panels in several groups qualification process for space cells and panels. As a around the world, capable of being folded or rolled into a result of extensive environmental testing, space solar cells smaller stowage volume for launch than has been possible have reached new heights of predictable performance. to date. This approach combines the very high efficiency and reliability of III-V multijunction cells with the thin, High-Efficiency Multijunction Space Solar Cells flexible PV blanket functionality normally associated only with thin-film polycrystalline or amorphous PV technology. Figure 1 charts the AM0 efficiency distributions for the This paper discusses the latest developments in III-V last four generations of multijunction space cells produced space solar cell technology, and explores opportunities for at Spectrolab, Inc., the dual-junction (DJ), triple-junction still higher performance in the future. (TJ), improved triple-junction (ITJ), and ultra triple-junction (UTJ) solar cell products. Each successive generation of high-efficiency space solar cell has not only shifted upward INTRODUCTION in average efficiency, but has also had a striking reduction in width of the distribution, indicating better uniformity and The last decade has seen a remarkable explosion in reproducibility for each new type of these production space the technology of photovoltaic cells designed for use in cells. space [1-3]. During this relatively short time, multijunction 25% DJ Ultra Triple Junction III-V solar cells have become the standard for space TJ ITJ power generation, at long last fulfilling their theoretical UTJ 20% Improved Triple Junction promise to deliver higher efficiency than the best single- junction cells. Early concerns about controlling the composition and thickness of the multiple semiconductor 15% Triple Junction layers that make up a multijunction solar cell, and about Dual Junction the transparency and conductivity of tunnel junction layers, 10% have largely fallen by the wayside. Overcoming these Percentage of Parts obstacles is now an accomplished fact, but similar 5% questions still arise as we look to the future of space photovoltaics. The historical perspective provided by the 0% development of today's triple-junction cells suggests that 19.0 20.0 21.0 22.0 23.0 24.0 25.0 26.0 27.0 28.0 29.0 we will find ways to tap the higher theoretical efficiency of new multijunction cell designs, and to achieve the level of Efficiency at load (%) control needed to grow even more complex cell Fig. 1. AM0 efficiency distributions of 4 generations of architectures, such as 5- and 6-junction solar cells. Spectrolab space solar cells. In Figure 2 the efficiency of Spectrolab space solar To achieve higher efficiencies, a more radical cells is plotted versus the year those cells were first flown departure from conventional 3-junction space cell on a spacecraft, stretching back to silicon cells in the late architecture is needed, one which has a higher theoretical 1960's. The trend of increasing beginning-of-life (BOL) efficiency ceiling. One such approach is the use of efficiency takes a sharp turn upward in the late 1990's, metamorphic, or lattice-mismatched materials, to tune the with the advent of multijunction cells, increasing by nearly bandgaps of the individual subcells of a multijunction cell one absolute percent in efficiency per year. This growth to the solar spectrum for maximum conversion efficiency rate is projected to continue with the new solar cells in [4-7]. Another approach is to divide the solar spectrum development today: the XTJ solar cell with 30% minimum more finely using a greater number of junctions, such as 5- average AM0 efficiency; and a new generation of cells and 6-junction cells [4,8]. Fig. 4 shows the partition of the with 4 to 6 junctions, the nJ cell with 33% efficiency. solar spectrum by the bandgaps in a AlGaInP/ GaInP/ AlGaInAs/ GaInAs/ GaInNAs/ Ge 6-junction cell. 35% Si Space PV Schematics of 5- and 6-junction solar cells, including a GaAs SJ nJ XTJ 4J to 6J ~1.1-eV GaInNAs subcell lattice-matched to Ge, are GaInP/GaAs/Ge MJ GaInP/GaAs/Ge 30% XTJ shown in Fig. 5. nJ ITJ UTJ GaInP/GaAs/Ge 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.41 eV 1.1 eV 0.67 eV GaInP/GaAs/Ge 100 100 25% DJ TJ GaInP/GaAs/Ge GaInP/GaAs/Ge 90 90 SJ , 28ºC) 20% GaAs/Ge 2 SJ 80 80 GaAs/GaAs BSF - BSR Si 70 AM0 70 15% Textured Si Thin Si (64 um) 60 AM1.5G 60 m) µ Large Area Si 2 (135.3 mW/cm AM1.5 Direct, low-AOD 10% (2 x 6 cm) 50 50 GaInP/GaAs/Ge MJ Generation Spectrolab Product Efficiency AM0 40 40 (mA/cm 5% GaAs SJ Generation Si Generation 30 30 0% 20 20 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Current Density per Unit Wavelength 10 10 Date of First Flight Fig. 2. Space solar cell efficiency versus the year each 0 0 new solar cell product was first launched into orbit. 350 550 750 950 1150 1350 1550 1750 1950 Wavelength (nm) The drive toward commercially-available space cells Fig. 4. Wavelength partition of the AM0 space, and with an average efficiency of 30% has resulted in terrestrial AM1.5 Global and AM1.5 Direct, low-AOD prototype quantities of XTJ cells with record AM0 spectra, by the subcell bandgaps of a 6-junction cell. efficiencies, giving confidence that the performance targets of the XTJ cell can be met relatively soon. The contact AR AR distribution of 125 demonstration cells with average AM0 cap contact AR AR (Al)GaInP Cell 1 2.0 eV efficiency of 30.3%, and 31.0% maximum efficiency, is cap wide-Eg tunnel junction shown in Fig. 3. The distribution of UTJ cells processed at (Al)GaInP Cell 1 2.0 eV GaInP Cell 2 (low Eg) wide-Eg tunnel junction 1.8 eV the same time is shown for comparison. These prototype wide-Eg tunnel junction AlGa(In)As Cell 2 AlGa(In)As Cell 3 XTJ cells still need to go through qualification, but their 1.7 eV 1.6 eV measured performance gives confidence that space solar wide-Eg tunnel junction wide-Eg tunnel junction Ga(In)As Cell 3 Ga(In)As Cell 4 cells with 30% minimum average efficiency will be 1.41 eV 1.41 eV commercially available soon. tunnel junction tunnel junction GaInNAs Cell 4 GaInNAs Cell 5 1.1 eV 1.1 eV 30 XTJ FS XTJ tunnel junction tunnel junction Ga(In)As buffer XTJ 2x2 Ga(In)As buffer UTJ Controls Avg. = 30.3% nucleation UTJ FS nucleation 25 Avg. = 28.4% Max = 31.0% UTJ 2x2 Ge Cell 5 Ge Cell 6 Max = 29.1% and substrate and substrate 20 0.67 eV 0.67 eV back contact back contact 15 Fig. 5. Monolithic, series-interconnected, 5-junction and 6- junction cell structures. 10 Number of Cells 5 The measured quantum efficiencies of the individual subcells of a 6-junction cell are plotted in Fig. 6, 0 superimposed on the AM0 solar spectrum. The quantum 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 6 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 0 0 1 .6 .0 .4 .8 .2 .6 .0 .4 .8 .2 .6 .0 % % % % % % % % % % % % efficiency and AM0 spectrum are plotted with photon Efficiency at Max Power (AM0, 135.3 mW/cm2, 28ºC) energy on the x-axis, with the subcell response cutoff Fig. 3. AM0 efficiency distribution for 125 XTJ bare cells, showing the bandgap of each subcell clearly. Subcell 1 with areas of 4 cm2 and >26 cm2, tested using calibration (the top subcell) is current matched to the other subcells in standards traceable to balloon flight reference cells. part by making it very thin, since its bandgap difference 1.91-eV GaInP Cell 1 EQE 100 1.81-eV GaInP Cell 2 EQE 70 1.57-eV AlGaInAs Cell 3 EQE 1.39-eV GaInAs Cell 4 EQE subcell.
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