The thickness of space solar cells has prevented their production using terrestrial methods. Until now, designing a thin cell that can withstand radiation, temperature fluctuations, and the extremes of orbit was impossible.
Extraterrestrial Power CEO Peter Toth said the company aims to bring space-grade rigor to the mass-produced method normally used to make terrestrial solar cells, with support from the Australian Space Agency’s moon to mars supply chain program.
“We are primarily focusing on utilizing the large investments in terrestrial solar for space and this has tremendous value for space,” Toth said. “Importantly, we are only utilizing technologies which allow high throughput manufacturing, which enables satellites being manufactured in high volumes necessary for low earth orbit (LEO) constellations.”
Extraterrestrial Power demonstrated its solar cells on board Caltech’s space-based solar power experiment in 2023, which made history by wirelessly transmitting power in space and beaming it down to Earth for the first time.
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