Solar panels in space. Space solar battery

The Russian Space Systems holding (RKS, part of Roscosmos) has completed the creation of a modernized electrical protection system for solar panels domestic production. Its use will significantly extend the life of spacecraft power supplies and will make Russian solar panels one of the most energy efficient in the world. The development is reported in a press release received by the editor.

The design of the new diodes used patented technical solutions, which significantly improved their performance characteristics and increased their reliability. Thus, the use of specially developed multilayer dielectric insulation of the crystal allows the diode to withstand reverse voltages of up to 1.1 kilovolts. Thanks to this, the new generation of protection diodes can be used with the most efficient photovoltaic converters (PVCs) available. Previously, when diodes were unstable to high reverse voltage, it was necessary to choose not the most efficient samples.

To increase the reliability and service life of diodes, RKS created new multilayer switching buses for diodes based on molybdenum, thanks to which the diodes can withstand more than 700 thermal shocks. Thermal shock is a typical situation for solar cells in space, when, during the transition from the illuminated part of the orbit to the shaded part of the Earth, the temperature changes by more than 300 degrees Celsius in a few minutes. Standard components of terrestrial solar batteries cannot withstand this, and the service life of space batteries is largely determined by the number of thermal shocks that they can survive.

The active life of a spacecraft solar battery equipped with new diodes will increase to 15.5 years. The diode can be stored on Earth for another 5 years. Thus, the total warranty period for the new generation diodes is 20.5 years. The high reliability of the device is confirmed by independent life tests, during which the diodes withstood more than seven thousand thermal cycles. The proven group production technology allows RKS to produce more than 15 thousand new generation diodes per year. Their deliveries are planned to begin in 2017.

The new solar cells will withstand up to 700 temperature changes of 300 degrees Celsius and will be able to work in space for more than 15 years

Solar batteries for space consist of photovoltaic converters (PVCs) measuring 25x50 millimeters. The area of ​​solar panels can reach 100 square meters (for orbital stations), so there can be a lot of solar cells in one system. FEPs are arranged in chains. Each individual chain is called a "string". In space, individual solar cells are periodically damaged by cosmic rays, and if they did not have any protection, then the entire solar battery in which the affected converter is located could fail.

The basis of the solar battery protection system is made up of diodes - small devices installed complete with solar cells. When the solar battery partially or completely falls into the shade, the solar cells, instead of supplying current to the batteries, begin to consume it - reverse voltage flows through the solar cells. To prevent this from happening, a shunt diode is installed on each PV cell, and a blocking diode is installed on each “string”. The more efficient the solar cell, the more current it produces, the greater the reverse voltage will be when the solar panel enters the Earth's shadow.

If the shunt diode does not “pull” the reverse voltage above a certain value, the solar cells will have to be made less efficient so that both the forward charging current of the batteries and the reverse current of unwanted discharge are minimal. When, over time, under the influence of destabilizing factors in outer space, individual solar cells or a “string” immediately fail, such elements are simply cut off without affecting the working solar cells and other “strings”. This allows the remaining, still working, converters to continue working. Thus, the energy efficiency and active life of the solar battery depend on the quality of the diodes.

In the USSR, only blocking diodes were used on solar batteries; if one solar cell malfunctioned, they immediately turned off the whole chain of converters. Because of this, the degradation of solar panels on Soviet satellites was rapid and they did not work for very long. This forced us to more often make and launch devices to replace them, which was very expensive. Since the 1990s, when creating domestic spacecraft, foreign-made solar cells began to be used, which were purchased assembled with diodes. It was possible to turn the situation around only in the 21st century.

In 1945, intelligence data was received about the use of radio communication devices in the US Army. This was reported to I.V. Stalin, who immediately organized the issuance of a decree on equipping the Soviet army with radio communications. The Elemental Electro-Galvanic Institute was created, later called “Quantum”. In a short time, the institute's team managed to create a wide series of current sources necessary for radio communications.

Nikolai Stepanovich Lidorenko headed the Research and Production Enterprise (SPE) "Kvant" from 1950 to 1984.

Since 1950, the institute has been creating power generating systems for the Berkut project. The essence of the project was to create a missile defense system for Moscow using anti-aircraft missiles. N.S. Lidorenko was summoned to the Third Main Directorate under the Council of Ministers, and he was asked to lead work on this topic, which was secret at that time. It was necessary to create a system for providing electricity to the anti-aircraft gun and the missile itself in flight. The use of generating devices based on conventional acid electrolytes in a rocket was impossible. N.S. Lidorenko set the task of developing current sources with salt (not water-containing) electrolytes. Salt as an electrolyte was packaged in dry form. During the launch of the rocket, the squib inside the battery was triggered at the right moment, the heat melted the salt, and only after that an electric current was generated. This principle was used in the S-25 system.

In 1950, to N.S. Lidorenko was contacted by Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, who worked on the R-2 rocket. The flight of a multi-stage rocket was turning into a complex one technological process. The team led by N.S. Lidorenko, autonomous power supply systems were created for the R-2 rocket, and subsequently for the next generation R-5 rocket. Power supplies required high power: it was necessary to provide power not only to the electrical circuits of the rocket itself, but also to the nuclear charges. For these purposes it was supposed to use thermal batteries.

In September 1955, construction began on the K-3 Leninsky Komsomol nuclear submarine. This was a forced response to the commissioning of the American nuclear submarine Nautilus in January 1955. Batteries turned out to be one of the most vulnerable links. As sources of current N.S. Lidorenko proposed using elements based on silver and zinc. The energy capacity of the battery was increased 5 times, so that the devices were capable of delivering about 40,000 ampere/hours, with 1 million joules in the beam. Two years later, Leninsky Komsomol went on combat duty. The reliability and effectiveness of those created under the leadership of N.S. were demonstrated. Lidorenko battery devices, which turned out to be 3 times more powerful than their American counterpart.

The next stage of N.S. Lidorenko was developing electric batteries for torpedoes. The difficulty was the need for independent power sources with a small volume, but it was successfully overcome.

A special place is occupied by the work on the creation of the famous Korolev “seven” - the R-7 rocket. The starting point in carrying out large-scale work on missiles was the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated May 13, 1946, signed by I.V. Stalin. Nowadays, some journalists are tendentiously trying to explain the attention that the leadership of our country paid to space projects, primarily with military interests. This is far from true, as evidenced by the available documentary materials of that time. Although, of course, there were exceptions. So, N.S. Khrushchev read S.P.’s memos with disbelief several times. Korolev, but was forced to take the problem seriously only after the KGB Chairman reported on the unsuccessful launch of the American Red Stone rocket, from which it followed that the American machine was capable of launching a satellite about the size of an orange into orbit. But for Korolev himself, it was much more significant that the R-7 rocket was capable of flying into space.

On October 4, 1957, the world's first artificial Earth satellite was successfully launched. The satellite's autonomous power supply system was developed by N.S. Lidorenko.

The second Soviet satellite was launched with the dog Laika on board. Systems created under the leadership of N.S. Lidorenko, provided vital functions on the satellite with a variety of current sources of various purposes and designs.

During this period N.S. Lidorenko came to understand the possibility of using a new, endless power source at that time - Sunlight. Solar energy was converted into electrical energy using photocells based on silicon semiconductors. At that time, a cycle of fundamental works in physics was completed, and photocells (photoconverters) were discovered, working on the principle of converting incident solar photon radiation.

It was this source - solar panels - that was the main and almost endless source of energy for the third Soviet artificial Earth satellite - an automatic orbital scientific laboratory that weighed about one and a half tons.

Preparations have begun for the first human flight into space. Sleepless nights, long hours of hard work... And now this day has come. Recalls N.S. Lidorenko: “Just a day before Gagarin’s launch, at the Council of Chief Designers, the issue is being decided... They are silent. Korolev: “Well, again, what is your opinion?” Again the audience is silent. “So I take urination as a sign of consent.” Korolev signs, and we all sign twelve signatures on the back, and Gagarin flies..."

A month before Gagarin's flight - March 4, 1961 - for the first time in history, a warhead of a strategic missile was intercepted. The power source for a fundamentally new type of equipment - the V-1000 anti-missile missile - was a battery created by the Kvant association.

In 1961, work also began on the creation of Zenit-class spacecraft - with complex single power systems from large blocks, which included from 20 to 50 batteries.

In response to the event on April 12, 1961, US President John Kennedy said: "The Russians opened this decade. We will close it." He announced his intention to send a man to the moon.

The United States began to seriously think about placing weapons in space. In the early 60s, the American military and politicians made plans to militarize the Moon - an ideal place for a command post and military missile base. From the words of Stanley Gardner, commander of the US Air Force: “In two or three decades, the Moon, in its economic, technical and military significance, will have in our eyes no less value than certain key areas on Earth, for the sake of whose possession the main military clashes took place.” .

Physicist Zh. Alferov conducted a series of studies on the properties of heterostructural semiconductors - man-made crystals created by layer-by-layer deposition of various components into one atomic layer.

N.S. Lidorenko decided to immediately implement this theory into a large-scale experiment and technique. For the first time in the world, the Soviet automatic spacecraft Lunokhod was equipped with solar batteries powered by gallium arsenide and capable of withstanding high temperatures above 140-150 degrees Celsius. The batteries were installed on the hinged lid of the Lunokhod. On November 17, 1970 at 7:20 am Moscow time, Lunokhod-1 touched the surface of the Moon. A command was received from the Flight Control Center to turn on the solar panels. For a long time there was no response from the solar panels, but then the signal passed through, and the solar panels performed excellently during the entire operation of the device. On the first day, the Lunokhod traveled 197 meters, on the second - already one and a half kilometers... After 4 months, on April 12, difficulties arose: the Lunokhod fell into a crater... In the end, a risky decision was made - to close the lid with the solar battery and fight our way blindly back . But the risk paid off.

Around the same time, the Kvant team solved the problem of creating a precision thermoregulation system of increased reliability, which allowed room temperature deviations of no more than 0.05 degrees. The installation works successfully in the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin for more than 40 years. It turned out to be in demand in a number of other countries.

The most important stage in the activities of N.S. Lidorenko was the creation of power supply systems for manned orbital stations. In 1973, the first of these stations, the Salyut station, with huge wings of solar panels, was launched into orbit. This was an important technical achievement of Kvant specialists. The solar cells were composed of gallium arsenide panels. During operation of the station on the sunlit side of the Earth, excess electricity was transferred to electric batteries, and this scheme provided a practically inexhaustible energy supply to the spacecraft.

The successful and efficient operation of solar panels and power supply systems based on their use on the Salyut, Mir stations and other spacecraft confirmed the correctness of the space energy development strategy proposed by N.S. Lidorenko.

In 1982, the team of the Research and Production Enterprise "Kvant" was awarded the Order of Lenin for the creation of space energy systems.

Created by the Kvant team, led by N.S. Lidorenko, power supplies power almost all military and space systems of our country. The developments of this team are called circulatory system domestic weapons.

In 1984, Nikolai Stepanovich left the post of Chief Designer of NPO Kvant. He left a flourishing enterprise, which was called the “Lidorenko Empire”.

N.S. Lidorenko decided to return to fundamental science. As one of the directions, he decided to use his new method of applied solution to the problem of energy conversion. The starting point was the fact that humanity has learned to use only 40% of the energy generated. There are new approaches that increase the hope of increasing the efficiency of the electric power industry by 50% or more. One of the main ideas of N.S. Lidorenko is the possibility and necessity of searching for new fundamental elementary sources of energy.

Sources of material: The material is compiled on the basis of data previously repeatedly published in print, as well as on the basis of the film “Trap for the Sun” (directed by A. Vorobyov, aired on April 19, 1996)

The successful and efficient operation of solar panels and spacecraft energy supply systems based on their use is confirmation of the correctness of the strategy for the development of space energy proposed by N.S. Lidorenko.

Solar battery on the ISS

Solar battery - several combined photoelectric converters (photocells) - semiconductor devices that directly convert solar energy into direct electric current, unlike solar collectors, producing heating of the coolant material.

Various devices that make it possible to convert solar radiation into thermal and electrical energy are the object of research in solar energy (from the Greek helios Ήλιος, Helios -). The production of photovoltaic cells and solar collectors is developing in different directions. Solar panels come in a variety of sizes, from those built into microcalculators to those that occupy the roofs of cars and buildings.

Story

The first prototypes of solar cells were created by an Italian photochemist of Armenian origin, Giacomo Luigi Ciamician.

On April 25, 1954, Bell Laboratories announced the creation of the first silicon-based solar cells to produce electric current. This discovery was made by three employees of the company - Calvin Souther Fuller, Daryl Chapin and Gerald Pearson. Just 4 years later, on March 17, 1958, the first one with solar panels, Vanguard 1, was launched in the United States. Just a couple of months later, on May 15, 1958, Sputnik 3 was launched in the USSR, also using solar panels.

Use in space

Solar panels are one of the main ways to obtain electrical energy on: they work for a long time without consuming any materials, and at the same time are environmentally friendly, unlike nuclear and.

However, when flying at a great distance from the Sun (beyond orbit), their use becomes problematic, since the flow of solar energy is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the Sun. When flying to and, on the contrary, the power of solar panels increases significantly (in the Venus region by 2 times, in the Mercury region by 6 times).

Efficiency of photocells and modules

The power of the solar radiation flux at the entrance to the atmosphere (AM0) is about 1366 watts per square meter (see also AM1, AM1.5, AM1.5G, AM1.5D). At the same time, the specific power of solar radiation in Europe in very cloudy weather, even during the day, can be less than 100 W/m². Using common industrially produced solar panels, this energy can be converted into electricity with an efficiency of 9-24%. In this case, the price of the battery will be about 1-3 US dollars per watt of rated power. For industrial generation of electricity using solar cells, the price per kWh will be $0.25. According to the European Photovoltaics Association (EPIA), by 2020 the cost of electricity generated by solar systems will drop to less than €0.10 per kW. h for industrial installations and less than 0.15 € per kWh for installations in residential buildings.

In 2009, Spectrolab (a subsidiary of Boeing) demonstrated a solar cell with an efficiency of 41.6%. In January 2011, solar cells from this company with an efficiency of 39% were expected to enter the market. In 2011, the Californian company Solar Junction achieved an efficiency of 43.5% for a 5.5x5.5 mm solar cell, which was 1.2% higher than the previous record.

In 2012, Morgan Solar created the Sun Simba system from polymethylmethacrylate (plexiglass), germanium and gallium arsenide, combining a concentrator with a panel on which a solar cell is mounted. The efficiency of the system when the panel was stationary was 26-30% (depending on the time of year and the angle at which the Sun is located), twice the practical efficiency of solar cells based on crystalline silicon.

In 2013, Sharp created a three-layer solar cell measuring 4x4 mm on an indium gallium arsenide base with an efficiency of 44.4%, and a group of specialists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Soitec, CEA-Leti and the Helmholtz Center Berlin created a photocell using Fresnel lenses with an efficiency of 44.7%, surpassing his own achievement of 43.6%. In 2014, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems created solar cells that, thanks to a lens focusing light onto a very small photocell, had an efficiency of 46%.

In 2014, Spanish scientists developed a photovoltaic cell made from silicon that can convert infrared radiation from the sun into electricity.

A promising direction is the creation of photocells based on nanoantennas that operate by directly rectifying currents induced in a small antenna (about 200-300 nm) by light (i.e., electromagnetic radiation with a frequency of about 500 THz). Nanoantennas do not require expensive raw materials for production and have a potential efficiency of up to 85%.

Factors affecting the efficiency of photocells

The structural features of photocells cause a decrease in the performance of panels with increasing temperature.

From the performance characteristics of the photovoltaic panel it is clear that to achieve the greatest efficiency, the correct selection of load resistance is required. To do this, photovoltaic panels are not connected directly to the load, but use a photovoltaic system control controller that provides optimal mode panel operation.

Production

Very often single photocells do not produce enough power. Therefore, a certain number of photovoltaic cells are combined into so-called photovoltaic solar modules and a reinforcement is mounted between the glass plates. This assembly can be fully automated.

More than sixty years ago, the era of practical solar power began. In 1954, three American scientists introduced the world to the first silicon-based solar cells. The prospect of obtaining free electricity was realized very quickly, and leading scientific centers around the world began to work on the creation of solar power plants. The first “consumer” of solar panels was the space industry. It was here, like nowhere else, that renewable energy sources were needed, since the on-board batteries on satellites were quickly exhausting their resources.

And just four years later, solar panels in space began their indefinite duty. In March 1958, the United States launched a satellite with solar panels on board. Less than two months later, on May 15, 1958, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 3 into an elliptical orbit around the Earth with solar panels on board.

The first domestic solar power plant in space

Silicon solar panels were installed on the bottom and nose of Sputnik 3. This arrangement made it possible to receive additional electricity almost continuously, regardless of the satellite’s position in orbit relative to the sun.

The third artificial satellite. The solar panel is clearly visible

The onboard batteries exhausted their service life within 20 days, and on June 3, 1958, most of the instruments installed on the satellite were de-energized. However, the device for studying the radiation of the Sun, the radio transmitter that sent the received information to the ground, and the radio beacon continued to work. After the on-board batteries were depleted, these devices were completely powered by solar panels. The radio beacon operated almost until the satellite burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere in 1960.

Development of domestic space photoenergy

Designers thought about power supply for spacecraft even at the design stage of the very first launch vehicles. After all, batteries cannot be replaced in space, which means that the active service life of a spacecraft is determined only by the capacity of the onboard batteries. The first and second artificial earth satellites were equipped only with on-board batteries, which were depleted after a few weeks of operation. Starting with the third satellite, all subsequent spacecraft were equipped with solar panels.

The main developer and manufacturer of space solar power plants there was a research and production enterprise "Kvant". Kvant solar panels are installed on almost all domestic spacecraft. In the beginning it was silicon solar cells. Their power was limited by both given dimensions and weight. But then Kvant scientists developed and manufactured the world's first solar cells based on a completely new semiconductor - gallium arsenide (GaAs).

In addition, completely new helium panels were put into production, which had no analogues in the world. This new product is highly efficient helium panels on a substrate with a mesh or string structure.

Helium panels with mesh and string backing

Silicon helium panels with bidirectional sensitivity were designed and manufactured specifically for installation on low-orbit spacecraft. For example, for the Russian segment of the international space station (the Zvezda spacecraft), silicon-based panels with bidirectional sensitivity were manufactured, and the area of ​​​​one panel was 72 m².

Solar battery of the Zvezda spacecraft

Flexible solar cells with excellent specific gravity characteristics were also developed on the basis of amorphous silicon and put into production: with a weight of only 400 g/m², these batteries generated electricity with an indicator of 220 W/kg.

Flexible gel battery based on amorphous silicon

To improve the efficiency of solar cells, extensive ground-based research and testing has been carried out to reveal the negative effects of the Big Space on helium panels. This made it possible to move on to the production of solar batteries for various types of spacecraft with a deadline active work up to 15 years.

Venus mission spacecraft

In November 1965, with an interval of four days, two spacecraft, Venera 2 and Venera 3, launched to our closest neighbor, Venus. These were two absolutely identical space probes, the main task of which was to land on Venus. Both spacecraft were equipped with solar panels based on gallium arsenide, which had proven themselves on previous near-Earth spacecraft. During the flight, all equipment of both probes worked uninterruptedly. 26 communication sessions were carried out with the Venera-2 station, and 63 with the Venera-3 station. Thus, the highest reliability of solar batteries of this type was confirmed.

Due to failures in the control equipment, communication with Venera 2 was lost, but the Venera 3 station continued on its way. At the end of December 1965, following a command from Earth, the trajectory was corrected, and on March 1, 1966, the station reached Venus.

The data obtained as a result of the flight of these two stations was taken into account in the preparation of the new mission, and in June 1967 a new automatic station, Venera-4, was launched towards Venus. Just like its two predecessors, it was equipped with gallium arsenide solar panels with a total area of ​​2.4 m². These batteries supported the operation of almost all equipment.

Station "Venera-4". Below is the descent module

On October 18, 1967, after the descent module separated and entered the atmosphere of Venus, the station continued its work in orbit, including serving as a relay of signals from the radio transmitter of the descent vehicle to Earth.

Spacecraft of the Luna mission

Solar batteries based on gallium arsenide were Lunokhod-1 and Lunokhod-2. The solar panels of both devices were mounted on hinged covers and served faithfully throughout the entire operating period. Moreover, on Lunokhod-1, the program and resource of which were designed for a month of operation, the batteries lasted three months, three times longer than planned.

Lunokhod-2 worked on the surface of the Moon for just over four months, covering a distance of 37 kilometers. It could still work if the equipment had not overheated. The device fell into a fresh crater with loose soil. I skidded for a long time, but in the end I was able to get out in reverse gear. When he climbed out of the hole, a small amount of soil fell on the cover with solar panels. To maintain a given thermal regime, the folded solar panels were lowered onto the top cover of the hardware compartment at night. After leaving the crater and closing the lid, soil from it fell onto the hardware compartment, becoming a kind of heat insulator. During the day the temperature rose above a hundred degrees, the equipment could not stand it and failed.

Modern solar panels, manufactured using the latest nanotechnology, using new semiconductor materials, have made it possible to achieve efficiency of up to 35% with a significant reduction in weight. And these new helium panels serve faithfully on all devices sent both to near-Earth orbits and into deep space.