BOL and EOL Characterization of Azur 3G Lilt Solar Cells for ESA Juice Mission

In the present paper, we describe the results of electrical characterization of AZUR SPACE triple-junction solar cells at a sun light intensity of 3.7% AM0 and temperatures down to −150°C. At these conditions, which are relevant for the anticipated ESA JUICE mission, the cell efficiency reaches 33.5 % at BOL. Special attention has been paid to the establishing of an in-situ characterization procedure for defining EOL cell characteristics after electron and proton irradiation at low temperature low intensity condition. It was shown that solar cells irradiated at low temperature exhibit a strong recovery effect within short time after stopping the irradiation whereas the absolute value of the recovery depends on the irradiation fluence and particle type. Further on, it was demonstrated that the degradation of the maximum power, Pmp, is much stronger than the degradation of Isc and Voc values. Experimentally defined remaining factors for electron and proton irradiation and the quantification of the observed recovery effects allow a realistic prediction of the solar cell performance at JUICE mission conditions and are essential for the planned solar cell qualification activities.