Slimming down solar cells

• Solar cells for room are generally expanded on pieces of germanium steel. An ESA General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) project checked out being able to remove and also recycle this uncommon, pricey steel, causing much thinner and more affordable solar cells for missions.

The activity examined an approach where the surface of the Germanium substratum is treated to ensure that a cavity is presented simply below it. When a solar cell is expanded on the Ge surface area, this 0.001 mm thick space, or cavity, permits everything over it to be gotten rid of, leaving just a very thin layer of germanium still connected to the cell - around 10 micrometres thick instead of the previous 150.

This massive conserving of weight as well as volume of an unusual product will lead to significant expense savings, particularly when increased throughout the about 10 000 solar cells required for every satellite objective.

For more than a quarter of a century ESA's optional GSTP has actually been preparing promising innovations for area as well as the open market. Review our GSTP Annual Report for 2019 to learn more about programme tasks.