DOME FRESNEL LENS/GALLIUM ARSENIDE PHOTOVOLTAIC CONCENTRATOR ARRAY WITH AN AMO OPERATIONAL ARRAY EFFICIENCY GREATER THAN 20%

ENTECH IS PLEASED TO PROPOSE TO THE STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE ORGANIZATION THE DESIGN DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE DOME FRESNEL LENS/GALLIUM ARSENIDE PHOTOVOLTAIC CONCENTRATOR ARRAY, CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING AN AMO OPERATIONAL ARRAY EFFICIENCY OF 20.4% IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL UTILIZE THREE HIGHLY INNOVATIVE FEATURES: (I) A DOME FRESNEL LENS CONCENTRATOR WHICH WILL PROVIDE 95% OPTICAL EFFICIENCY AT 100X CONCENTRATION; (II) A PRISMATIC CELL COVER WHICH WILL MINIMIZE CELL FRONT SURFACE REFLECTION LOSSES AND ELIMINATE GRIDLINE OBSCURATION LOSSES; AND (III) STATE-OFTHE-ART GALLIUM ARSENIDE CONCENTRATOR CELLS WHICH WILL PROVIDE 23.3% OPERATIONAL CELL EFFICIENCY. THESE THREE INNOVATIVE FEATURES WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO AN ARRAY CONFIGURATION WHICH WILL PROVIDE AN AMO OPERATIONAL POWER OUTPUT OF 275 WATTS PER SQUARE METER OF ARRAY AREA, ABOUT TWICE AS HIGH AS FOR CURRENT PLANAR SILICON PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAYS AND ABOUT ONE AND ONE-HALF TIMES HIGHER THAN THE MOST PROMISING REFLECTIVE CONCENTRATOR ARRAY. THE INCREASED PERFORMANCE LEVEL WILL DRAMATICALLY REDUCE ARRAY AREA, ARRAY MASS, AND ARRAY COST FOR FUTURE SPACE POWER SYSTEMS. BASED ON OUR PAST NINE YEARS OF SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPIG THE NEW ARRAY DESIGN.