TeraPV-4-Space – Utilisation of terrestrial PV manufacturing technology for space applications

Solar energy is arguably the most important source of energy in space. It powers satellites, the International Space Station and rover missions by converting light into usable electricity. Space-bound solar cells are highly efficient and rely on well-established III-V semiconductor technology.

The TeraPV-4-Space project aims to transfer the low-cost process technology of terrestrial solar cells to III-V space solar cells, enabling the next generation of integrated energy systems in the growing space market. The project will dramatically reduce process complexity and costs by replacing all vacuum processes and photolithography, and will demonstrate the potential of high-efficiency, low-cost III-V solar cells. This process technology can generate significant developments for terrestrial applications such as photonic power converters and concentrating photovoltaics.

Benefits:

• Drastic reduction of solar panel costs by eliminating vacuum and photolithographic steps within production process.
• Increase of reliability and repeatability of the manufacturing process due to a simpler, streamlined process leading to process waste reduction.
• Applicable not only to the space sector, but also to power converters, terrestrial solar energy and microelectronics here on Earth.