Experiment of Silver Interconnects of Photovoltaic Solar Array in IFM GroundBased AO Effect Simulation Facility

Photovoltaic solar array systems are being considered as potential power sources for spacecraft applications. But the AO effect on silver solar cell interconnects would limit the useful life of the solar array. So the experiments were constructed to investigate the interaction between silver interconnects of photovoltaic solar array which are to be used on spacecraft and atomic oxygen environment in the ground-based AO effect simulation facility. After the experiment, different degradation effects of the Ag films and the other plated protective coatings due to atomic oxygen were obtained. This would be of much value in selecting and determining the suitable protective coatings that would keep the silver interconnects from AO degradation while in LEO.