Prospects for Perovskites in Space

In support of a sustainable human-lunar presence, there is a need for very large (>100kW) and high-voltage-capable solar arrays, estimated to cost over $150M. Perovskite-based thin film photovoltaics offer substantial advantages over state of the art solar arrays from the perspective of manufacturing large arrays. Many of the challenges perovskite solar cells experience in terrestrial operations, e.g degradation caused by moisture and oxygen exposure, are not applicable in long-term space applications. The solar cells must present thermal and vacuum stability and achieve relatively high power conversion efficiencies to become the next generation space photovoltaic technology. Data suggest that judicious choice of material interlayers plays a strong role in thermal vacuum performance. Perovskites regularly achieve ~23% single junction efficiencies but efficiencies in excess of 30% are possible via tandem devices. Perovskites present many opportunities for integration into multi-junction devices with preliminary investigations and perovskite-silicon, perovskite-CIGS and perovskite-perovskite tandems may be suitable for operation in space. Here we provide an overview of NASA Glenn Research Center’s Space Technology Mission Directorate funded research program to develop novel materials to enable the implementation of perovskite photovoltaic devices long-duration operation in space.