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Photovoltaic Cells for Very High Altitude Very Long Endurance Solar Aircraft

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 		Award ID:
81318 		Program Year/Program:
2009 / SBIR
Agency Tracking Number:
07SB2-0613 		Solicitation Year:
N/A 		Solicitation Topic Code:
N/A 		Solicitation Number:
N/A
Small Business Information
4POWER LLC
PO Box 416 Windham, NH 03087
View profile »
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 2
Fiscal Year: 2009
Title: Photovoltaic Cells for Very High Altitude Very Long Endurance Solar Aircraft
Agency / Branch: DOD / DARPA
Contract: W31P4Q-09-C-0228
Award Amount: $750,000.00
 

Abstract:

This proposed Phase II program will deliver a lightweight triple-junction solar cell that eliminates the current-matching bottleneck of current state-of-the-art InGaP/GaAs/Ge cells on Ge. This will be achieved by constructing a triple junction structure on the lattice constant of SiGe, allowing the integration of semiconductors with bandgaps that are optimized for the best possible triple-junction efficiency. The cell design proposed for Phase II has a practical achievable efficiency of 47% (AM1.5 spectrum without concentration), far exceeding the current record of 32% for the same illumination conditions. III-V cell development on the SiGe lattice constant is a natural direction for 4Power's substrate platform which already utilizes SiGe graded buffers. This strategy for optimized solar cell efficiency is fully compatible with our Si-encapsulated cell technology demonstrated in Phase I. The multijunction cell that will be developed in Phase II will incorporate both Si encapsulation and uniquely accessible optimum bandgap profiles such that high volume/low cost production of ultra-high specific power cells in a Si-compatible manufacturing environment is enabled.

Principal Investigator:

Arthur Pitera
Senior Research Scientist
6175494623
apitera@4powerllc.com

Business Contact:

Eugene Fitzgerald
Member, Co-Founder
6032750861
eafitz@4powerllc.com
Small Business Information at Submission:

4POWER LLC
PO Box 416 Windham, NH 03087

EIN/Tax ID: 270072937
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No