What kind of protective layer they put on solar cells (in space)?
Question:
i think theres not that much of a layer on solar cells in space
maybe a thin UV-Resistant foil or so, or a small layer of polycarbonate, or so.
reason: it has to be very light to save weight.
since its being hit by micro-metereoids anyway its more challenging to think in a failsafe electric design which allows single cells in a panel to me wiped out by impacts, without letting the whole panel fail.
any better protective material would weight too much and would get destroyed anyway, sooner or later.
I think if you are up for protecting solar cells on earth you should look for glass... maybe layered glass with a thin foil in the middle.
Glass. I think the plastics would be damage very fast by the high energy UV and X rays. Maybe is possible some kind of armor to protect from micrometeorite, but not in the same direction used to collect the light. As the above answer said, a special design is required to avoid excess weight.
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