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What are the solar cells that can ascend to the sky?
In the aerospace field, solar cells that can be launched into space need to have high efficiency, lightweight, radiation resistance, and resistance to extreme temperatures to meet the energy requirements of spacecraft in space. The following are several common types of aerospace solar cells and their characteristics:
1、Compound semiconductor solar cell
1. Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) Solar Cells
characteristic:
The efficiency is extremely high, reaching 28% to 35%, and the spectral response matches the solar spectrum well.
Thin in thickness (only a few micrometers) and lightweight, suitable for the lightweight requirements of spacecraft.
Excellent radiation resistance, with slow efficiency degradation during long-term use in space.
Application:
Mainstream aerospace batteries are widely used in synchronous orbit satellites, deep space probes (such as Mars rovers), and manned spacecraft (such as some components of the International Space Station).
For example, NASA's Perseverance rover uses gallium arsenide solar cells.
2. Indium phosphide (InP) solar cells
Features: Efficiency can reach over 30%, stronger radiation resistance, better high-temperature resistance than gallium arsenide, suitable for deep space exploration (such as detectors near the sun).
Application: High end space missions, such as Jupiter probes, solar observation satellites, etc.
3. Triple junction/multi junction solar cells
Structure: Composed of multiple stacked materials such as gallium arsenide and indium phosphide, it can absorb light of different wavelengths.
Efficiency: Up to 40% or more, it is currently the most efficient battery type in the aerospace field.
Application: High value spacecraft (such as communication satellites, meteorological satellites) that obtain maximum energy with minimal area.
2、Silicon Solar Cells
1. Monocrystalline silicon solar cells
Features: High purity (monocrystalline silicon crystal structure), photoelectric conversion efficiency can reach 15%~25%, good stability, mature technology.
Application: Basic power supply for early satellites and some small spacecraft, such as low orbit satellites, sounding rockets, etc.
Advantages: Relatively low cost, better temperature resistance and radiation resistance than ground silicon batteries, but lower efficiency than gallium arsenide batteries.
2. Polycrystalline silicon solar cells
Characteristics: Composed of polycrystalline silicon grains, with an efficiency of about 12% to 20%, the cost is lower than that of monocrystalline silicon, but the efficiency and radiation resistance are slightly inferior.
Application: For cost sensitive low to medium orbit spacecraft, or as an auxiliary power source.
3、Thin Film Solar Cells
1. Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin film battery
characteristic:
Flexible and bendable, extremely lightweight (with a thickness of only 1-2 microns), capable of fitting complex curved surfaces.
Efficiency is about 15%~22%, suitable for weight sensitive microsatellites and CubeSats.
Application: Small spacecraft, deployable solar panels.
2. Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film battery
Features: Efficiency of about 10% to 18%, low cost, but cadmium element is toxic, and safety needs to be considered for aerospace applications. It is mostly used for experimental tasks.
4、New solar cells (future trend)
1. Perovskite solar cells
Features: The laboratory efficiency has exceeded 30%, with light weight and low cost, but stability (especially radiation and high temperature resistance) needs to be verified.
Potential applications: In the future, it may be used for low-cost deep space exploration missions.
2. Flexible organic solar cells
Features: Foldable, extremely lightweight, suitable for micro spacecraft or expandable "solar sails".
Challenge: Low efficiency (about 10%~15%), short lifespan, requiring further optimization.
5、Special requirements for aerospace solar cells
High efficiency: The light intensity in space is high, but the surface area of the spacecraft is limited, so it is necessary to maximize the power generation per unit area.
Lightweight: For every 1 gram reduction in weight, it can reduce spacecraft launch costs by tens of thousands of dollars.
Radiation resistance: High energy particles (such as protons and electrons) in space can cause battery performance degradation, which needs to be optimized through material design (such as the lattice structure of gallium arsenide) or protective layers.
Extreme temperature resistance: The surface temperature of the spacecraft can fluctuate between -200 ℃~+120 ℃, and the battery needs to maintain stability.
classic case
The International Space Station (ISS) uses triple junction gallium arsenide solar cells with a total area of approximately 2500 square meters and a power generation capacity of 120 kilowatts.
The Chinese Chang'e-5 probe uses flexible thin-film solar cells attached to the surface of the lander to adapt to complex terrain.
The Voyager probe from the United States used radioactive isotope power (RTG) in its early stages, but some auxiliary equipment still relied on silicon-based batteries.
summarize
At present, gallium arsenide and multi junction compound semiconductor cells are the mainstream choices in the aerospace field, as they have become the core power sources for high-value missions due to their high efficiency and radiation resistance; Thin film batteries are gradually becoming popular in miniaturization and lightweight tasks. In the future, new materials such as perovskite may drive further innovation in aerospace solar energy technology.
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