REQUIREMENTS FOR THIN FILM SOLAR ARRAYS AND THE DEVELOPMENT STATUS OF A NEW SOLAR CELL BLANKET CONCEPT

摘要

A novel blanket concept for thin film solar cells has been developed by Dutch Space. This blanket design, called the "Matrix" (patent pending), is formed by just connecting the thin film solar cells to each other at their corner points with plastic connection strips. The typical mass is only 240 g/m{sup}2 with CIGS solar cells made on 25μm titanium foil. Interconnects are established by a pressure contact between the solar cells. Blanket samples of 48 connected solar cells (partly with live prototype solar cells) have been made and will be tested soon for thermal cycling and acoustic noise environments. The Matrix blanket design appears to be a very attractive solution and can be used on solar array level for solar cell blankets tensioned in panel frames and for large fold-out blanket arrays using masts.