HIGH VOLTAGE SOLAR CELL ARRAY SEGMENT.

The final report summarizes the entire development program conducted by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in which feasibility of fabricating high voltage solar cell arrays on 1 cm x 30 cm silicon web was demonstrated, and a power conditioning network for conversion of 50 vdc to 1000 vdc with a 10 watt power capability was developed using voltage multiplier techniques. The high voltage solar cell array segment was designed about a diffused isolation and interconnect structure, the analogue of a series array of more than sixty individual cells in the well-known shingled configuration. Fabrication of the monolithic structure required development of new techniques for handling twelve-inch pieces of silicon, notably in diffusion and photomasking operations. The resultant high voltage cells were characterized by open circuit voltages of 30 volts, short circuit currents of 7 to 8 ma and efficiencies up to 7.3 under 100 masq cm, AM1, tungsten radiation. Thus, the final samples delivered to the Air Force demonstrate the feasibility of building high voltage solar cell array segments in monolithic structures as per contract expectations. The cell design, fabrication process and test results are reviewed in this report. Author