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SMARTS Modeling of Solar Spectra at Stratospheric Altitude and Influence on

Performance of Selected III-V Solar Cells

Conference Paper · October 2018

DOI: 10.1109/PVSC.2018.8547665

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SMARTS Modeling of Solar Spectra at Stratospheric
Altitude and Influence on Performance of Selected
III-V Solar Cells
Moritz Limpinsel, Member, IEEE, Dawei Kuo, and Aarohi Vijh, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—Solar-powered fixed-wing high-altitude long-

endurance pseudosatellites (HALE or HAPS) are being
developed to provide telecommunication and related services
to markets across the globe. For technical, operational and
regulatory reasons, these aircraft need to operate continuously
at stratospheric altitudes, which is a challenge given the limited
electrical energy available aloft. We have conducted SMARTS
simulations to generate solar spectra at 20 km altitude on
the Tropic of Cancer during the winter and summer solstices.
Estimates of component cell currents for single junction and
triple junction III-V cells were also calculated. These results and
approach are expected to be of benefit to the calculation and
optimization of performance of HALE aircraft.
Keywords—UAV, HALE, HAPS, Pseudosatellites, Solar, Aircraft

I. I NTRODUCTION
The burgeoning commercial demand for low-latency data
connectivity and high-resolution imagery is driving the de-
velopment of fixed-wing solar-powered high-altitude long-
endurance pseudosatellite platforms (HALE or HAPS) as an
alternative to satellite platforms [1]. The development of
HALEs is being enabled by a convergence of advances in
electric propulsion, battery and solar technologies, as well
as shrinking payload sizes. In order to maximize commercial
utilization, it is desired that these platforms be able to remain
aloft and on station for months.
Solar is the only form of energy that can match the au-
tonomous mode of operation and extended mission profiles of
these platforms. Although indirect utilization of solar energy
through thermals can be valuable and is being actively explored
[2], direct conversion of sunlight to electricity through wing-
and body-mounted solar arrays is likely to be the dominant
source of power for these platforms, providing forward propul-
sion for station-keeping as well as altitude gain and battery
charging for flight through the night.
The HALE platforms are being designed to operate in the
lower portion of the stratosphere at altitudes of roughly 20 km
(66,000 feet). This would place the platform in an airspace
well above most air traffic, and in an atmospheric zone of
low wind speeds (see Fig. 1), important for efficient station-
keeping. Due to the low air density, however, maintaining
these high altitudes while operating on solar power and while
carrying a meaningful payload is challenging and requires
careful optimization of the power system. In order to optimize
the performance and energy yield of the solar arrays, it is
necessary to understand the illumination conditions at altitude.
Fig. 1. Average wind speeds in m/s vs. altitude in km. On an average,
wind speeds are minimum in the lower stratosphere, around 20 km
altitude. Air density at 20 km is roughly 1/20 that at sea level.
In this paper, we will look at the typical illumination geom-
etry aloft, SMARTS spectra generated for cases of particular
interest, and relative performance of example single and triple
junction solar cells under those spectra.
II. G EOMETRY OF S OLAR I LLUMINATION AT 20 KM
We assume a fixed-wing aircraft with horizontal wings and
vertical tail or body surfaces. In this paper we generate spectra
over the course of the day on two dates (December 21 and June
21). We consider a horizontal surface as well as a vertical
surface. For the vertical surface, we consider flights in all four
cardinal directions (i.e. azimuths of 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees
from north). For the horizontal surface, the illumination is
independent of azimuth, so there is only one case. We assume
a latitude of 23.5 degrees north and an altitude of 20 km for
the above cases. Fig. 2 shows the geometry for the aircraft on
December 21, 23.5 degrees north latitude, and at an altitude of
20 km. The aircraft is flying east in the figure. At this altitude,
sunrise occurs at approximately 5 degrees below horizontal,
and the sun reaches a maximum elevation of 43 degrees above
horizontal (47 degrees below the zenith). It may be appreciated
that, due to the absence of terrain and negligible amounts of
dust, considerably larger amounts of energy are available at
low sun angles than on the surface of the earth. In fact, a certain
Fig. 2. Solar illumination geometry, looking east, for a HALE at 20 km altitude, 23.5 degrees north latitude, December 21. The solar
illumination would be from the right (south) in this case.

amount of energy is available even at negative sun angles, i.e.
below the plane of the wings. This would be available for
collection on solar panels mounted under the wings and on
vertical surfaces of the aircraft. However, the SMARTS code
currently does not support negative sun angles [5]. It may be
possible to generate a spectrum for this case using an indirect
approach; this will be explored in future work.
of the quantum efficiency curves do not change with angle
of incidence. The exact angular dependence of the quantum
efficiency may depend on choice of lamination (cover) as
well as the structure of the cells themselves. Temperature
coefficients are also not considered here.

III. M ODEL C ONFIGURATION AND I NPUTS

A. SMARTS Configuration
The Simple Model of the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer
of Sunshine (SMARTS), developed by C. A. Gueymard, com-
putes clear sky spectral irradiances (including direct beam,
circumsolar, hemispherical diffuse, and total on a tilted or
horizontal receiver plane) for specified atmospheric conditions.
To use SMARTS, users construct input text files of 20-30
lines of simple text and numbers to specify conditions defining
the solar geometry and atmospheric conditions, and up to
28 spectral output parameters such as irradiances. SMARTS’
output consists of spreadsheet-compatible text files with header
information [3].
For this paper, we used SMARTS version 2.9.5. A com-
mented input file used is shown in Table II. The time of day
was changed by a computer script and spectra were generated
in 5-minute increments.
Fig. 3. External quantum efficiency of single junction (1J) and triple-
B. Quantum Efficiencies junction (3J) cells. The 3J QE is from [4]. The nominal AM0 current
Fig. 3 shows the external quantum efficiency assumed for densities shown were used to normalize the results as discussed in the
the single junction and triple junction cells. The single-junction text. In the case of the 3J cells, the nominal AM0 current of the top-
cell was used for the normalization as that component cell was
QE is from Alta Devices’ internal measurements. The triple- observed to be limiting under all modeled conditions.
junction QE is from Boisvert [4]. We assume that the shapes
 TABLE I. N ORMALIZED Y IELD
IV. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
Equivalent Sun Hours (ESH) for the 1J and 3J Cells under the Modeled Spectra
A. Generated High-Altitude Spectra Altitude Day Orientation Azimuth 1J ESH 3J ESH ∆1J-3J
Fig. 4 shows the generated high-altitude (20km) spectra for 20 km Dec 21 Horizontal n/a 4.64 4.62 0.02
20 km Dec 21 Vertical North 0.77 0.57 0.02
horizontal (top panes) and east-facing vertical (bottom panes) 20 km Dec 21 Vertical East 3.44 3.17 0.24
collectors. The black lines represent the ASTM-standard AM0 20 km Dec 21 Vertical South 7.18 6.87 0.31
20 km Dec 21 Vertical West 3.43 3.16 0.27
spectrum and the grey lines represent the actual extraterrestrial 20 km Jun 21 Horizontal n/a 8.00 7.99 0.01
irradiance on the respective day (December 21 and June 20 km Jun 21 Vertical North 3.05 2.70 0.35
21). The extraterrestrial irradiance is higher on December 21 20 km Jun 21 Vertical East 4.94 4.56 0.38
20 km Jun 21 Vertical South 1.13 0.85 0.28
because the Earth is close to its perihelion point1 . 20 km Jun 21 Vertical West 4.95 4.57 0.38
For the horizontal collectors, we note that at times of high 10 km Dec 21 Horizontal n/a 4.49 4.42 0.07
irradiance (i.e. at high sun elevations) the shape of the spectrum 0.13 km Dec 21 Horizontal n/a 4.11 4.00 0.11
of received irradiance follows the shape of the extraterrestrial
spectrum except in the UV region. A reddening of the spectrum
is seen at times of low irradiance (at low sun elevations). a comparison of performance of the example single junction
The situation is different for the vertical collectors. As seen cell to that of the example triple junction cell, relative to their
in the bottom panes of Fig. 4, the shape of the spectrum respective nominal values, over the course of the day, in the
of the received irradiance can vary noticeably from that of five different collector positions on the two dates of December
the extraterrestrial spectrum even at times of high irradiance. 21 and June 21.
Although only spectra for the east-facing collectors are shown, Fig. 7 shows the ratio of the normalized 1J junction currents
the difference in spectra at times of high irradiance is also to the normalized 3J limiting (top) cell current for horizontal
present in the case of the north and south-facing collectors. and vertical collectors over the course of the day on December
The results for the west-facing collector are symmetrical (about 21 and June 21, 23.5 degrees north latitude, 20 km altitude.
solar noon) to those for the east-facing collector shown. This represents relative cell performance over the course of the
Next we quantify the effect of the variations in spectrum day. The overall energy yield on those two days of the year
over the time of the day in terms of junction currents. for the various surface orientations is calculated next.

B. Quantification of Junction Currents under the Modeled C. Normalized Energy Yield

Non-Standard Spectra.
Fig. 5 shows the calculated 1J and 3J junction currents for
horizontal and vertical collectors over the course of the day on
December 21 and June 21, 23.5 degrees north latitude, 20 km
altitude. The horizontal axis represents local time of the day
(12 = solar noon). The black lines represent the single junction
cell and the blue, green and red lines respectively represent the
top, middle and bottom cells of the triple-junction cell. The
line styles (thickness and dashes) represent the position of the
collector. As expected, we see a longer duration of overall
illumination in the June 21 case. In the case of the east-facing
vertical collector, we see a fast rise in current as the sun rises
past the zero degree elevation. In the case of the west-facing
collector, we see a similar high current until the sun set below
the zero degree elevation. The south facing vertical collector
also receives high irradiance throughout the day on December
21, including the early and late hours. The north facing vertical
collector sees high irradiance in the early and late parts of the
day on June 21, but reduced irradiance in the middle of the
day. The irradiance received by the horizontal collector is also
shown.
Fig. 6 is a similar plot except we normalize the current of
each subcell to its own nominal AM0 value. These nominal
AM0 values are shown in Fig. 3.
In Fig. 5, we note that our example triple junction cell is
top-cell limited in all cases evaluated. Fig. 7 plots the ratio of
the normalized single junction current to the normalized triple-
junction top cell current over the course of the day. This allows
1 The perihelion occurs around January 3.
We then integrate the normalized junction currents of the
limiting cell (e.g. as shown in Fig. 6) to obtain the yield over
the day. InR Table I, this is expressed as equivalent sun hours:
ESH = (Jsc(t)/JscAM 0 )dt. The difference in equivalent
sun hours for the single-junction cell vs. the triple-junction
cell is also listed. The table can be interpreted as follows.
Assuming 1 kW nominal cell arrays in the 20 km, December
21, horizontal case, the single junction cell would produce
4.64 x 1 kW = 4640 watt-hours, while the triple junction
cell would produce 4620 watt-hours, a difference of 1000 x
0.02 = 20 watt-hours2 . In the horizontal case (i.e. the solar
is on top of the wings), there is only a slight relative gain
in single junction cell performance. As discussed previously,
this is because the majority of the energy is captured at low air
masses in the horizontal case. The difference in single junction
vs triple junction performance is much greater in the case of the
vertical collectors, which receive significant amounts of energy
at low sun angles (i.e. at higher air masses). The magnitude
of the difference is greatest (>35%) in the case of a north-
facing collector on December 21 and in the case of a south-
facing collector on June 21 (∼33%); however the total energy
captured is low in both cases. The vertical collectors also
show a difference of 4.5% to 13% in cases where a significant
amount of total energy is available for capture.
It should be noted that cell performance at dawn may be of
particular interest. Due to limitations of rechargeable battery
energy density, HALE aircraft are expected to augment energy
2 Note that we have used normalized short circuit currents (and not power)
to estimate yield.
Fig. 4. Spectra generated by SMARTS for horizontal and vertical collectors over the course of the day on December 21 and June 21, 23.5 degrees
north latitude, 20 km altitude. Only the east facing case is shown for the vertical collector; however spectra for the other cardinal directions were
also obtained. See Table I for a list of all cases for which spectra were obtained. The extraterrestrial spectrum is modeled data, which varies with
season, while the AM0 spectrum is the ASTM standard.

stored in the battery by climbing to a higher altitude during D. Lower Altitudes

the day, then gliding lower during the night. This means that
the aircraft could be dangerously low at dawn, and available
electrical energy is especially valuable at that time.
Cell performance under the wings and effect of wing dihe-
dral3 will be pursued in future work.
3 Dihedral angle is the upward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailplane
of a fixed-wing aircraft.
The last two rows of Table I also shows additional cases at
lower altitudes (higher overall air masses), for comparison.
The first is for a horizontal collector at 10 km, which is
about as high as most airliner traffic operates. The second
case is also for a horizontal collector at 0.13 km, which is
about the absolute lowest altitude that manned aircraft are
permitted to operate at (except during takeoff or landing).
Results for vertical collectors were not calculated for these
cases. It is obvious, however, that reduction of energy yield

Fig. 5. 1J and 3J junction currents for horizontal and vertical collectors
over the course of the day on December 21 and June 21, 23.5 degrees
north latitude, 20 km altitude. The 3J cell is top limited throughout.
Fig. 6. Normalized 1J and 3J junction current densities for horizontal
and vertical collectors over the course of the day on December 21 and
June 21, 23.5 degrees north latitude, 20 km altitude. Each current
density has been normalized to its nominal AM0 value.
due to component cell mismatch in the triple junction cell
would be more severe with vertical collectors at these lower
altitudes.
V. S IGNIFICANCE
Due to limitations of energy density, fossil fuel, fuel-cell or
battery powered high altitude aircraft can only operate for a
Fig. 7. Ratio of the normalized 1J junction current densities to the
normalized 3J limiting (top) cell current density for horizontal and
vertical collectors over the course of the day on December 21 and June
21, 23.5 degrees north latitude, 20 km altitude.
few days at most. Solar cells are considered the only viable
power source for longer missions. The solar HALE platforms
being envisioned have wing- and body-mounted solar arrays
as the power source, providing forward propulsion for station-
keeping as well as altitude gain and battery charging for flight
through the night. Although flight at lower altitudes (i.e.,
higher air densities) requires lower power [6], operators of
HALEs require a high altitude of 20-25 km. This places the
HALE in a zone of low wind speed and well above most air
traffic. Sustaining flight under these conditions is particularly
challenging in winter, when the solar energy available over a
24 hour period is low. Insufficient stored energy could leave the
aircraft unable to maintain altitude and be forced to descend
into the fast moving jetstream, or into commercial air traffic,
both of which are unacceptable. We can appreciate then that
the dawn hours are a particularly critical phase of flight: the
aircraft is low and sunlight is available only at low angles,
through a much higher air mass relative to the middle of the
day. Therefore aircraft designers wishing to incorporate solar
cells on vertical surfaces would benefit from the availability
of corresponding spectra and an accurate understanding of cell
performance during critical phases of the flight.
VI. C ONCLUSION
We have conducted SMARTS simulations to generate solar
spectra at 20 km altitude on the Tropic of Cancer on the winter
and summer solstices. We have quantified the effects of com-
ponent cell current mismatch in a typical triple-junction solar
cell resulting from non-standard illumination in the expected
operating environment. Estimates of component cell current
densities for example single junction and triple junction III-V
cells were integrated and normalized to obtain a performance
metric of equivalent sun hours. These results and approach are
expected to be of benefit to the calculation and optimization
of performance, for solar cells applied to various surfaces of
high-altitude long-endurance pseudosatellites.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Discussions with C. A. Gueymard and support of the Alta
Devices team, including R. L. Kapusta, B. M. Kayes, A. J.
Ritenour, O. E. Semonin, and P. E. Sims are appreciated.

R EFERENCES
[1] F. A. D’Oliveira, F. C. L de Melo and T. C. Devezas, "High-alt-
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[2] D. J. Edwards, A. D. Kahn, M. Kelly, S. Heinzen, D. A. Sch-

eiman, P. Jenkins, R. Walters, and R. Hoheisel. ”Maximizing
net power in circular turns for solar and autonomous soaring
aircraft”, Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 53, No. 5, pp. 1237-1247,
2016.

[3] C. A. Gueymard, ”SMARTS code, version 2.9.5 for Windows"

Solar Consulting Services, August 2006.

[4] J. Boisvert, D. Law, R. King, D. Bhusari, X. Liu, S. Mesropian,

..., N. Karam, "Development of space solar cells at Spectrolab",
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[5] C. A. Gueymard, private communication, March 2016.

[6] A. Vijh, "Comparing solar arrays for autonomous, fixed-wing

aircraft using the metric of absolute ceiling", submitted to the
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Conference, Atlanta, June 2018.
 TABLE II. SMARTS I NPUT F ILE
This is the file used as input to the SMARTS program. Underlined values were changed via a computer script to generate the spectra used in this paper.
Line Text Explanation
1 ’PVSC 20km Tropic’ Comment
2 2 Latitude, Ground Altitude, Height Mode
3 23.5 0 20 Latitude 23.5 degrees N, Ground Elevation 0 km, Height Above Ground 20 km
4 1 Use a standard atmosphere ...
5 ’USSA’ ... the US Standard Atmosphere
6 1 Default water vapor
7 1 Default ozone abundance
8 1 Default gas abundances
9 410 CO2 concentration (ppm)
10 0 Gueymard 2004 Extraterrestrial spectrum
11 ’S&F RURAL’ Rural aerosol model
12 0 Aerosol optical depth specified at: 500 nm
13 0.0018 Aerosol optical depth
14 51 Albedo model: Dry long grass
15 1 Perform tilted surface calculations ...
16 51 37 180 ... with the same albedo model, at 37 degrees tilt, 180 degree azimuth (pointing south)
17 280 1300 1.0 1366.1 Overall spectral range for calculations, solar multiplier, value of solar constant.
18 2 File print option
19 280 1300 5 Save spectrum from 280 to 1300 nm in steps of 5 nm
20 4 Print total of 4 variables ...
21 1248 Extraterrestrial Spectrum, Direct Normal Irradiance, Global Horizontal Irradiance, Global Tilted Irradiance.
22 1 Radiometer calculations on (but not used in this paper)
23 0 2.9 0 Radiometer specifications (not used in this paper)
24 0 No postprocessing (smoothing)
25 0 Bypass illuminance and photosynthesis calculations
26 0 No special UV calculation
27 3 Geometry input as specified below. This will override the solar multiplier with the actual value.
28 2018 03 21 12 23.5 0 0 yyyy mm dd hh latitude timezone longitude

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