eprintid: 42857 rev_number: 17 eprint_status: archive userid: 3189 dir: disk0/00/04/28/57 datestamp: 2016-07-18 10:18:13 lastmod: 2019-03-15 15:01:05 status_changed: 2016-07-18 10:19:11 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: López Estrada, Esther creators_name: Martí Vega, Antonio creators_name: Llorens, J.M. creators_name: Buencuerpo, J. creators_name: Versloot, T. creators_id: esther.lopez@ies-def.upm.es creators_id: antonio.marti@upm.es title: Optimum single-gap solar cells for missions to Mercury publisher: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics rights: none ispublished: pub subjects: nuclear full_text_status: public note: Silicio y Nuevos Conceptos para Células Solares abstract: The power supply for space probes is usually based on photovoltaic (PV) systems. The first solar cells used in these systems were single-gap solar cells fabricated with Si and GaAs. Later on, multijunction solar cells (MJSC) based on III–V semiconductors were developed because of their higher efficiency and tolerance to a radiation environment [1]. All these solar cells have been based on semiconductors that fulfill the needs of most near-Earth missions. However, those same semiconductors fail to meet the needs of some other missions involving harsh environments such as high-intensity high-temperature (HIHT) environments [2]. In this work, we investigate which semiconductor material is optimum to implement single-gap solar cells for missions to Mercury, where HIHT conditions are expected. Because solar cell efficiency decreases as temperature increases [3], achieving high-efficiency photovoltaic conversion at HIHT conditions is a big challenge. Previous works have pointed out the need of using wide-bandgap semiconductors to reach this goal [4,5]. In this context, we will study the potential of solar cells based on AlxGa1−xAs, a well-known semiconductor whose physical properties have been extensively investigated. The limiting efficiency of these solar cells performing in near-Mercury missions will be calculated to determine the optimum composition for AlxGa1−xAs. date_type: published date: 2016-07-14 publication: Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets volume: Online pagerange: 1-5 id_number: 10.2514/1.a33533 institution: Ies department: Electronica2 refereed: FALSE issn: 0022-4650 official_url: https://doi.org/10.2514/1.A33533 comprojects_type: CM comprojects_code: S2013/MAE-2780 comprojects_acronym: MADRID-PV comprojects_leader: Antonio Martí Vega comprojects_title: Materiales, dispositivos y tecnología para el desarrollo de la Industria fotovoltaica citation: López Estrada, Esther and Martí Vega, Antonio and Llorens, J.M. and Buencuerpo, J. and Versloot, T. (2016). Optimum single-gap solar cells for missions to Mercury. "Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets", v. Online ; pp. 1-5. ISSN 0022-4650. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.a33533 . document_url: https://oa.upm.es/42857/1/Mercury_preprint.pdf