Integration of Crack-Tolerant Composite Gridlines on Triple Junction Photovoltaic Cells
Metal matrix composites consisting of multi-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in a sliver matrix are successfully integrated onto commercial triple junction photovoltaic cells.The performance of triple junction cells with composite gridlines is analyzed; the fill factor and efficiency closely match those of cells with standard evaporation-based metallization. The cells are then intentionally cracked,using external mechanical stress. We observe substantially enhanced crack tolerance incomposite-enhanced cells in comparison to standard triple junction cells. Upon introducing cracks,thecontrol cell result in a loss of 54% in the short circuit current, whereas no significant loss is observed for the composite-enhanced cells. The composite metal gridlines show strong potential to improve the lifetime of space photovoltaic cells against stress-induced fracture.
Abudayyeh, O.; Bradshaw, G.K.; Whipple, S.; Wilt, D.M.; Han, S.M. (2017) “Integration of Crack-Tolerant Composite Gridlines on Triple Junction Photovoltaic Cells.” IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, Washington D.C.