Spectrally Resolved Degradation Modelling of Perovskite Solar Cells for Space Photovoltaic Reliability

Erika Vega-Fleitas^a, Santiago Moll-López^a, José A. Moraño-Fernández^a, Alicia Herrero-Debón^a

^aUniversitat Politècnica València, Camí de Vera, s/n, València, Spain

NIPHO26
Proceedings of International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics and Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO26)

Pavia, Italy, 2026 June 8th - 9th

Organizers: Giulia Grancini, Feng Gao and Robert Hoye

Poster, Santiago Moll-López, 032
Publication date: 22nd April 2026

Perovskite solar cells are attractive candidates for lightweight space photovoltaics because of their high specific power, tunable optoelectronic properties and compatibility with flexible thin-film architectures [1–3]. However, their practical deployment requires reliability assessment methods able to capture the combined action of radiation, ultraviolet exposure, thermal cycling and orbit-dependent environmental variability. Conventional degradation estimates based on coarse orbit-class descriptors or scalar dose indicators may obscure the relative contribution of different damage pathways and lead to incomplete stability assessments.

Here we present a semi-empirical, reduced-order degradation framework for perovskite solar cells under spectrally resolved space-relevant stressors. The model connects analytical orbital propagation, time-resolved environmental modulation, energy-dependent particle attenuation and a five-channel damage representation including ionizing, displacement, ultraviolet, thermal-fatigue and atomic-oxygen contributions. Transmitted proton and electron spectra are converted into effective degradation source terms, which are then mapped onto photovoltaic observables including short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage, fill factor and power conversion efficiency.

Representative simulations for LEO, MEO, GEO and highly elliptical orbit conditions show that both the predicted degradation magnitude and the dominant damage mechanism depend strongly on the spectral and temporal structure of exposure. In the illustrative parameter set considered here, the framework predicts clear orbit-dependent differences in retained absorber-level PCE after one year, with LEO showing the strongest degradation and GEO/HEO showing comparatively milder losses. These values should be interpreted as model outputs for comparative screening rather than device-specific lifetime claims.

This work provides a computationally efficient early-stage tool for comparing protection strategies, identifying dominant degradation pathways and supporting mission-aware stability assessment of perovskite photovoltaic devices.

References:

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Acknowledgements:

The authors acknowledge the institutional support of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in the development of this work.

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