Radiation Degradation of Solar Cells in Space Applications

Solar cells are the primary power source for satellites and deep-space probes, yet they operate in a relentless environment of high-energy protons, electrons and heavy ions. Incident particles induce lattice defects through displacement damage and ionisation, reducing carrier lifetimes, open-circuit voltage and overall conversion efficiency. The extent of degradation depends on the cell architecture (single-junction versus multi-junction), semiconductor materials (silicon, GaAs, InGaP and more sophisticated triple-junction stacks), cover-glass thickness and mission orbit. Quantitative metrics such as non-ionising energy loss (NIEL) and displacement damage dose (DDD) enable prediction of end-of-life performance across Low Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit and beyond. Advances in cell design—ranging from optimised back-surface fields to novel flexible substrates—seek to balance specific power, radiation tolerance and mass constraints. Understanding degradation mechanisms is essential for mission planning, lifetime forecasts and the development of resilient photovoltaic technologies for both commercial satellites and planetary exploration.

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Radiation Degradation of Solar Cells in Space Applications publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in radiation degradation of solar cells in space applications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Non-ionising energy loss (NIEL): energy imparted by particles that displaces atoms without ionising, used to predict defect generation.

Displacement damage dose (DDD): cumulative measure of lattice defects created by non-ionising interactions over a mission.

Fluence: total number of incident particles per unit area, often specified for protons or electrons.

Triple-junction solar cell: multi-layer device combining three semiconductor junctions to capture different spectral bands and maximise efficiency.

External quantum efficiency (EQE): ratio of collected charge carriers to incident photons as a function of wavelength, sensitive to radiation-induced defects.

References

1. A short review of radiation-induced degradation of III–V photovoltaic cells for space applications. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells (2021).
2. Improving Radiation Resistance of GaInP/GaInAs/Ge Triple-Junction Solar Cells Using GaInP Back-Surface Field in the Middle Subcell. Materials (2020).
3. Effect of the Irradiation on Optical and Electrical Properties of Triple-Junction Flexible Thin Solar Cells for Space Applications. Frontiers in Physics (2019).
4. NIEL calculations for estimating the displacement damage introduced in GaAs irradiated with charged particles. IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering (2017).
5. Fabrication and Irradiation Effect of Inverted Metamorphic Triple Junction GaInP/GaAs/InGaAs Solar Cells. Crystals (2022).