HIGHLY PORTABLE, FLEXIBLE SILICON SOLAR CELL ARRAYS FOR POLAR OPERATIONS

THIS PROGRAM WILL DEMONSTRATE HIGH SPECIFIC POWER, LIGHTWEIGHT, FLEXIBLE, THIN SILICON SOLAR CELLS. THESE SOLAR CELLS CAN BE DIRECTLY SUBSTITUTED FOR EXISTING STATE OF THE ART SILICON SOLAR CELLS WITH THE EFFECT OF SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVING SPECIFIC POWER, POWER/AREA, AND POWER SUPPLY LIFE. THE PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A LIGHTWEIGHT, FLEXIBLE, HIGH-PERFORMANCE, ULTRA-THIN SILICON SOLAR CELL THAT INCORPORATES LIGHT-TRAPPING AND A GRAPHITE CLOTH SUBSTRATE AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE DEVICE. THIS NEW TYPE OF SILICON SOLAR CELL WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR POLAR OPERATIONS. THE SILICON LAYERS WILL BE DEPOSITED BY ELECTRO-DEPOSITION. THESE THIN FILMS WILL DEMONSTRATE THE LIGHTWEIGHT AND FLEXIBILITY OF OTHER THIN FILM SOLAR CELL DESIGNS WHILE MAINTAINING THE HIGH PERFORMANCE OF CRYSTALLINE SILICON. ASTROPOWER HAS DEMONSTRATED EFFICIENCIES OF 15.7% WITH THIN POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON ON CERAMIC SOLAR CELLS. THE DEVICE WILL HAVE IMMEDIATE APPLICATION WHEREVER HIGH POWER OUTPUT, LIGHTWEIGHT, AND PORTABILITY ARE IMPORTANT. USING A GRAPHITE CLOTH SUPPORTING SUBSTRATE, SPECIFIC POWER FOR THE SOLAR CELL PLUS ENCAPSULANT OF 461.0 W/KG IS PROJECTED.