ENCAPSULATION

A SERIES OF ELASTOMERIC SILICONES AND SILICONE-IMIDES WILL BE SYNTHESIZED AND SCREENED FOR APPLICATION AS SOLAR CELL ENCAPSULANTS IN PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAYS TO BE DEPLOYED IN SPACE. KEY PHYSICAL PROPERTIES SUCH AS THE TENSILE MODULUS, OPTICAL ABSORBANCE OVER 300 NM-1100 NM, LONG-TERM STABILITY IN VACUUM UV, REFRACTIVE INDEX, AND THERMAL PROPERTIES AS WELL AS CHARGING AND FLAMMABLITY CHARACTERISTICS WILL BE EVALUATED IN A PRELIMINARY FASHION IN ORDER TO SELECT ONE OR MORE PROMISING CANDIDATES DURING PHASE I. A LIMITED NUMBER OF CELLS WILL BE ENCAPSULATED DURING THIS PERIOD IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE FEASIBILITY. SCALE-UP OF SYNTHESIS, DEVELOPMENT OF OPTIMUM PROCESSING TECHNIQUES, AND ACCELERATED AND LIFE-TESTING ACTIVITIES WILL BE DEFERRED UNTIL PHASE II. THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO DEVELOP TAILORED ENCAPSULATION PACKAGES FOR BOTH THE CURRENT GENERATION AND LIGHTWEIGHT, THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS WHICH MAY BE USED IN THE FUTURE. THIS DEVELOPMENT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE WEIGHT OF SOLAR ARRAYS, AND WILL EVENTUALLY FIND MANY COMMERCIAL AS WELL AS MILITARY APPLICATIONS.