Innovative Temperature Accelerated Life Test for the determination of the activation energy of space solar cells

Space solar cells have been subjected to an innovative temperature Accelerated Life Test (ALT) to get information on their degradation and their activation energy. Our procedure emulates the thermal stress that solar cells suffer working under space conditions. Solar cells were kept in a climatic chamber under nitrogen atmosphere at three different temperatures for few months. After degradation, results have been fitted to a temperature Arrhenius model, in order to obtain the activation energy and acceleration factor of space GaInP/Ga(In)As/Ge triple junction solar cells.