In situ performance and stability tests of large-area flexible polymer solar cells in the 35-km stratospheric environment.

Abstract

Flexible organic solar cells (FOSCs) are one of the most promising power sources for aerospace aircraft due to their attractive advantages with high power-per-weight ratio and excellent mechanical flexibility. Understanding the performance and stability of high-performance FOSCs is essential for the further development of FOSCs for aerospace applications. In this paper, after systematic investigations on the performance of the state-of-the-art high-performance solar cells under thermal cycle and intensive UV irradiation conditions, in situ performance and stability tests of the solar cells in the 35km stratospheric environment were carried out through a high-altitude balloon uploading. The encapsulated FOSCs with an area of 0.64cm2 gave the highest power density of 15.26mW/cm2 and an efficiency over 11%, corresponding to a power-per-weight ratio of over 3.32kW/kg. More importantly, the cells showed stable power output during the 3-h continuous flight at 35km and only 10% performance decay after return to the lab, suggesting promising stability of the FOSCs in the stratospheric environment.