SolAero Technologies has won a contract from SSL, a Maxar Technologies company, for the design, manufacture and testing of solar array panels.
Image: Solar Panels. Photo: Courtesy of khunaspix/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
The solar panels will be manufactured in SolAero’s state-of-art production facility in Albuquerque, NM.
The panels will be populated with SolAero’s 32% efficient IMM (Inverted Metamorphic) multi-junction solar cells that, at end-of-life, generate in excess of 10% more power than other solar cells in production today.
The IMM-α technology is not only the highest performance solar cell currently in production, at the bare solar cell level, IMM-α is also more than 40% lighter than typical high efficiency, space grade solar cells.
This combination of peak performance and lowest mass makes the IMM-α an enabling technology for a multitude of critical space missions.
SSL chief operating officer Paul Estey said: “SolAero is a long term and reliable partner to SSL and we are very pleased to incorporate its new IMM technology into our production spacecraft.
“After many years of development we are pleased that it has become a cost effective solution for our next-generation satellite systems.”
SolAero Technologies CEO Brad Clevenger said: “The SolAero team is delighted to have this opportunity to continue supporting our long-time partners at SSL.
“IMM’s unique value proposition made it an excellent fit for SSL’s forward-thinking strategy and will further broaden IMM’s already rapid acceptance by the satellite industry.”
Source: Company Press Release