Photovoltaic Power Generation in the Stellar Environments

Abstract

In this paper we have studied the problem of photovoltaic power generation near selected stars in the solar neighborhood. The nature of the optical radiation from a star will depend on its luminosity,HR classification and spectral characteristics. The solar celloperation in the habitable zones of the stars is similar to AM1.0 operation near earth.Thecurrent space solar cell technology can be adopted for power generation near G,K and Mtype stars. Silicon solar cells with good near IR response are particularly suitable in theenvironments of M type stars which are most abundant in the universe. . Photovoltaicpower generation near binary stars like Sirius and Alpha Centauri is also discussed.