Multijunction component cells on LIPS III

To evaluate the effects of the space environment on advanced III-V semiconductor solar cells, 19 experiments were placed on the LIPS III satellite. These experiments consisted of both single-junction GaAs cells and InGaAs and AlGaAs components for monolithic multijunction cells. The LIPS III satellite has been sending data to earth for nearly three years, and although the data have a large amount of scatter, there are enough data to start to make statistically meaningful observations on the relative performance of the cells on the panel. The cells, which, are protected by 20 mm coverslides, have displayed very little loss in short-circuit current. The short-circuit current is the performance parameter which can be most accurately derived from the available data. The III-V cells showed very little decay in short-circuit current after nearly three years in space. >