TRIPLE JUNCTION SOLAR CELLS AND SOLAR PANELS FOR THE NEW GENERATION OF RUSSIAN SPACECRAFT

摘要

This paper describes the design and manufacturing of solar cells and panels for the last generation of Russian spacecraft. The high efficiency solar cells based on III-V compounds are the best approach to increase the specific power and the lifetime of the solar arrays. The semi-rigid mesh technology originally developed by KVANT for silicon cells, and successfully applied in space for decades, has been recently utilized in conjunction with the triple junction solar cells (CTJ) produced by CESI to power several classes of Russian satellites. This paper describes the manufacturing of thousands of CTJ solar cells with a size of 26.5 cm~2 and 140μm thickness. The CTJ solar cells efficiency class was improved from the early 26% to the present 28%. The 28% efficiency class was recently developed and qualified by CESI. This paper details the solar array manufacturing and the results of the ground tests performed at panel level. The achieved results are compared with the typical design of honeycomb based solar arrays for application on satellites operated in intermediate orbits.