Analysis of Thermodynamic Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin-Film Solar Cells for Viable Space Application

Main Article Content

Declan Clarke
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8862-1420
Rodrigo Breguel
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2641-1484

Abstract

The use of thin film solar cells for power generation when colonizing space stations is an interesting idea. Resisting harsh space environments and low power to mass ratio shows potential for the future application of thin film solar cell in future space application such as roll able solar blankets. Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cell are analyzed to determine their viability in space focusing on two modular aspects of emissivity and buffer lays. Findings and calculations showed how temperature affects the efficiency of solar cells and it could also be found how increasing their emissivity with different kinds of coatings can offset the loss in efficiency. Through the study of buffers, it was found that lower band gaps reduce the quantum efficiency of a solar cell. Therefore, ZnS with an energy band gap of 3.5eV will have the least amount of spectral absorption of higher wavelengths.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Article Details

Section
Articles