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The Department of Solar Energy (DES) of the National Atomic Energy Commission of Argentina has announced the development of the first solar cell manufactured in the country for space use with III-IV superconductors at the facilities of the Constituyentes Atomic Center (CAC).
The first solar cell manufactured in Argentina for space use with III-IV superconductors has been announced by the Department of Solar Energy (DES) of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA).
Developed at the facilities of the Constituyentes Atomic Center (CAC), it is explained in a statement that the CNEA has been manufacturing solar panels for artificial satellites since 1995. Through its Department of Solar Energy (DES), it made those for the SAC-A satellites, Aquarius-SAC D and SAOCOM 1A and 1B, launched between 1998 and 2020. Also those of SABIA-Mar 1, which will be put into orbit in 2024.
To build them, commercial cells were used. "But the new project aims for the CNEA to be able to supply itself with this key input for the panels with which it offers support to the missions of the National Commission for Space Activities", the communication points out.
“In the field of research and development, solar cells made of different materials are being studied in the country. Silicon solar cells have been studied and manufactured in our department for a long time, and other materials have also been investigated. For Argentine satellite missions, the cells are purchased and then integrated by gluing a protective front glass and soldering the interconnectors that electrically connect the devices together to form the panel. Now the great advance is that we have been able to manufacture our own space cells entirely at CNEA with a III-V semiconductor, such as gallium arsenide”, describes the physicist and researcher at the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CNEA-CONICET) Marcela Barrera, from OFF
This development is part of the thesis "Elaboration, characterization, numerical simulation and testing of solar cells based on III-V semiconductors", of the doctoral student Simón Saint André (PhD in Science and Technology - Physics mention from the Sabato Institute). |
