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Question: is there anywhere to find what cells previous winning cars used?
Monocrystalline vs Polycrystalline:
Mono cells are made of one single fragment of silicon, are more efficient (about 4%) and are recommended when space is a limitation.
Poly cells consist of multiple fragments of silicon melted together, and although they are less expensive than mono, they are less efficient.
MS will use mono.
Sunpower and Azur Space seem to be the leading solar cell companies.
Sunpower Maxeon Gen III was used for MSXIV (efficiency of 24.3%)
Looked through the Gochermann solar technology page, as they were who was used for encapsulation for MSXIV.
Maximum 30 degree bend, although with more bend, the power output decreases significantly. Always better to have a flatter surface to achieve the optimal angle with all cells.
This bend can happen in both axis, although since 3D curvature is very difficult to achieve, we will be staying with 2D curvature of the array as per Catherine’s recommendation.
They offer a non-reflective surface which decreases the light reflection fro 4% to 0.3% when compared to smooth surfaces.
After brief research, could not find viable competition to Gochermann for a lightweight encapsulation company.
Type 2 - Thin Film GaAs - Will not be using due to cost
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