Spectrolab Marks Solar Cell Production Milestone
Spectrolab Inc. (Sylmar, CA) recently announced it has reached a production milestone of 25,000 triple-junction galliom-arsenide (GaAs) solar cells, with an average conversion efficiency of 24.5 percent, its highest average efficiency yet.The company also announced it has reached production of a half-million dual junction GaAs solar cells. More than 50kW of these dual-junction cells are currently in orbit.According to Spectrolab, multi-junction GaAs solar cells are becoming the enabling power-generating source for rapid deployment of increased satellite capability. The added efficiency also makes it possible to have either a lighter, smaller array of equivalent power or a more powerful array with no increase in weight.The company states it has boosted its production capacity to deliver nearly 1MW of power per year to global spacecraft manufacturers, and has also increased its ability to transfer new designs into flight in half the time as compared to a few years ago.
