Tag: Space Solar Power
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Powering Orbital Computing: From Watts to Megawatts
If chips are the bricks and data centers are the buildings, power is one of the essential utilities that makes them work. Computing ultimately comes down to watts: keeping a 700-watt GPU running in orbit requires an entire engineering system, from solar-array orientation and battery chemistry to bus voltage. Moving from watts to megawatts means…
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Space Photovoltaics: Why Do Solar Array Cells Often Use Cerium-Doped Cover Glass?
Viewed from space, the first layer sunlight encounters on a solar array is the cover glass, followed by a transparent adhesive layer and the solar cell itself. Typically measured in tenths of a millimeter, the glass performs two jobs at once: it faces the space environment while allowing useful light to reach the cell. How…
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Rocket Lab Releases Germanium-Free IMM Apex Space Solar Cell With 31.5% Efficiency
Rocket Lab released its IMM Apex space solar cell for production on September 8, offering a Beginning of Life conversion efficiency of 31.5% while eliminating the germanium substrate used in conventional multi-junction cells. The company said the product is 40% lighter than comparable cells and is intended to reduce satellite manufacturers’ exposure to rising germanium…