Electrodeposition of Metal Matrix Composites and Materials Characterization for Thin-Film Solar Cells

The current trend in both space and terrestrial photovoltaics is to implement high-efficiency, thin-film-based solar cells to reduce weight and materials cost while improving performance. For space photovoltaics, multi-junction (MJ) solar cells have been used almost exclusively due to their high efficiency and high radiation hardness. The efficiency of state-of-practice triple-junction (TJ) cells used in space today is approximately 30% under 1-sun Air Mass 0 (AM0) spectrum.