Dark Current Characterization of Irradiated Solar Cells

A decrease in ideality factor of GaAs solar cells due to irradiation with 1MeV electron radiation resulted in decreased open circuit voltage and maximum power. Dark current-voltage measurements suggest that 1MeV electron radiation primarily affects dark current produced at voltages greater than 0.5 V. The dark saturation current of irradiated solar cells increased but a simultaneous decrease in ideality factor caused a reduction of the open circuit voltage. The reduced ideality factor further indicates a change in the primary recombination mechanism.