IAC-22-C3.3.8 Six years of spaceflight results from the AlSat-1N Thin-Film Solar Cell (TFSC) experiment
IAC-22-C3.3.8 Six years of spaceflight results from the AlSat-1N Thin-Film Solar Cell (TFSC) experiment
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.actaastro.2023.08.034
复制
发表时间：
2023-08
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
C. Underwood;D. Lamb;Stuart Irvine;Simran Mardhani;Abdelmadjid Lassakeur
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
C. Underwood;D. Lamb;Stuart Irvine;Simran Mardhani;Abdelmadjid Lassakeur
航天器有效载荷日益增长的功率需求以及天基太阳能发电站作为2030年代提供零碳电力的手段的现实前景，意味着对大面积但重量轻的太阳能光伏阵列的需求正在出现，这种太阳能光伏阵列将提供比目前可用的大得多的功率（kWpeak）。实际上，这种阵列将需要使用具有高得多的比功率（即，每单位质量的功率）和比目前的空间额定太阳能光伏技术低得多的每瓦成本。为此，斯旺西大学太阳能研究中心（CSER）一直在研究一种新的太阳能电池技术，该技术基于薄膜碲化镉（CdTe），直接沉积在超薄空间合格的盖板玻璃材料上。这提供了潜在的高比功率，并且当采用传统的CdTe制造工艺时，这是一种低成本技术。超薄玻璃可以生产出足够灵活的太阳能电池，以允许“铺开”部署策略。四个原型电池作为薄膜太阳能电池（TFSC）实验有效载荷的一部分，由CSER和萨里航天中心（SSC）开发，在阿尔及利亚航天局（ASAL）-英国航天局AlSAT-1 N技术演示CubeSat上联合飞行，于2016年9月26日发射到661公里× 700公里，98.20°太阳同步轨道。该实验提供了这种新技术的第一个在轨电流/电压（I/V）测量结果，五年多的飞行结果现在已经对其长期性能和固有的辐射硬度产生了新的见解，这使得它们对于保持高寿命末期（EOL）性能的长期空间任务特别有吸引力。这些结果有助于加强进一步发展这项技术用于空间应用的论点。这些数据收集了超过130，000个轨道，没有显示电池分层的迹象（这类技术的潜在风险），短路电流或串联电阻没有恶化。然而，观察到所有四个电池的填充系数在使命期间都有所下降，这主要是由于它们的分流电阻下降所致。这归因于金原子从背电接触的扩散。因此，我们的结论是，这种技术的进一步发展，应利用更稳定的背接触方法更普遍采用的地面碲化镉模块。然而，这次飞行证明了该技术在太空中的基本可靠性。
The increasing power demands of spacecraft payloads and the realistic prospect of space based solar power (SBSP) stations as a means of providing zero carbon electricity in the 2030s, means that there is an emerging requirement for large area, yet lightweight, solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays that will provide far greater power (kWpeak) than is currently available. To be practical, such arrays will need to use solar cells which have a much higher specific power (i.e., power per unit mass) and a much lower cost per watt than current space-rated solar PV technologies. To this end, the Centre for Solar Energy Research (CSER) at Swansea University have been working on a new solar cell technology, based on thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe), deposited directly onto ultra-thin space qualified cover glass material. This offers a potentially high specific power and when adopting the conventional CdTe manufacturing process, a low-cost technology. The ultra-thin glass can produce a solar cell which is sufficiently flexible to allow “roll-out” deployment strategies. Four prototype cells were flown as part of the Thin-Film Solar Cell (TFSC) experimental payload, developed by CSER and the Surrey Space Centre (SSC), on the joint Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) – UK Space Agency AlSAT-1N Technology Demonstration CubeSat, launched into a 661 km × 700 km, 98.20° Sun Synchronous orbit, on September 26, 2016. The experiment has provided the first in-orbit current/voltage (I/V) measurements of this novel technology, and more than five years of flight results have now yielded new insights into its longer-term performance and inherent radiation hardness, which makes them particularly attractive for maintaining high end-of-life (EOL) performance for long duration space missions. The results help to strengthen the argument for further development of this technology for space application. The data, collected over ∼30,000 orbits, show no signs of cell delamination (a potential risk for such technologies), no deterioration in short circuit current or in series resistance. However, all four cell's fill factors were observed to decrease over the duration of the mission, caused primarily by a decrease in their shunt resistance. This has been attributed to the diffusion of gold atoms from the back electrical contacts. We conclude therefore that further development of this technology should utilize more stable back contacting methodologies more commonly employed for terrestrial CdTe modules. However, this flight has proven the basic soundness of the technology for use in space.