IMM experimentation in the next frontier: Emcore'S participation in the MISSE-8 program

Abstract

In collaborations with both Lockheed-Martin (LM) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Emcore has incorporated its cutting-edge IMM cell technologies on MISSE-8 in a variety of cell form factors and two distinct configurations. The first is a double coverglass (DCG) arrangement, where adhesive and coverglass are attached to both the front and backsides of the solar cell, and in the second configuration the IMM cell was mounted to a rigid, lightweight, CTE-matched substrate. Pre-build test coupons were subjected to 1124 thermal cycles from −100 to 100°C, and showed no electrical degradation in six out of seven cells/strings, with the lone degraded cell exhibiting just a 3.5% loss in Jsc and no change in Voc or FF. The average AM0 efficiency (solar constant = 1353 W/m2) of the IMM3J cells flown in this experiment have an average efficiency of 31.3% (omitting an anomalously low-perfoming cell), and the 4cm2 IMM4J cells 33.1%.