Solar glass future space

Can solar cells penetrate cover glass?

While protons are more damaging to solar cells, they are also more readily stopped in cover glass, in particular low energy protons which dominate GEO. For this reason, solar cells developed in this work were characterized under 500 keV and 1 MeV electron irradiation which can penetrate cover glass.

Why do solar cells need a cover glass?

4. Loss analysis and pathway to higher performance With anodic bonding of the GaAs solar cell to the cover glass, the glass can serve as a mechanical superstrate, enabling the removal of the growth substrate while also offering radiation shielding.

Can a glass solar cell be reflected back into a solar cell?

During the light IV measurements in this work, the on-glass GaAs solar cells were placed on a gold measurement stage, which would permit transmitted photons to be reflected back into the solar cell. However, due to the 300 nm GaAs contact layer between the solar cells and the glass, there is limited second-pass absorption.

Can glass be orientated as a solar cell superstrate?

Anodic bonding of thin III-V layer structures has previously been considered , , with a view to enabling off-wafer light management; however, these demonstrations employ an Al interfacial bonding layer which is non-transparent and therefore the glass cannot be orientated as a solar cell superstrate using this approach.