Deployable solar panels will reach the moon • Trends21

Much of the energy required for upcoming space missions, including those that will bring humans back to the moon, could come from the sun: new, more efficient and economical deployable solar panels will power facilities and spacecraft.

A new technology developed at Sandia National Laboratory in the US has been able to improve the properties of solar panels so that they can be used effectively in space. Deployable solar panels are already being tested on a recently launched small satellite, powered by innovative solar technology.

according to press release, in the future it is expected to be used on the surface of the moon, for example charging stations To power rover vehicles, battery packs, and other electrical equipment used by spacecraft and astronauts. The new approach relies on micro solar cells: Thanks to its small size, light weight and flexible nature, it allows the development of more economical and efficient panels for use in space.

On Earth and in Space

The Solar energy ha sido utilizada de diversas formas desde mucho antes de la invención de los paneles solares, sobre la mitad de la década de 1950. Por ejemplo, los romanos la empleaban en sus casas de baños colocando ventanas masivaz ir sol queríluan water. Along the same lines, researchers and scientists used sunlight to power steamboats in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Now, it could become the best energy alternative for space missions to the moon and other destinations.

The new approach seeks to reduce the cost of establishing solar energy technology and increase its efficiency, so that it can be viable and sustainable in space, within the framework of tasks that consume large budgets and must try to achieve the highest degree of independence from Earth possible. resources. The cells interconnected in plates They are made of silicone: they can be combined and joined in any shape or size.

Thanks to these properties, less materials are needed to make highly efficient and adequately controlled solar collectors. As a logical consequence, it is possible to reduce the economic impact of the utilities, which is one of the issues that hinders further promotion of this alternative of clean energy On the ground.

The new technology is already being tested for satellite feed Currently in orbit, and if the results are as expected, it could become a tangible solution for the cost-effective and large-scale implementation of power systems in future space missions. For example, the Artemis program led by NASA can do this Returning humanity to the moon in 2024.

Related topic: They are developing a system to capture solar energy from space.

A large satellite that captures energy from the sun

according to Article – Commodity Published in The New Times, there are other projects that aim to take advantage of Solar energy in space. The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) recently announced that it will conduct its first test launch in late 2022 or 2023, to test its approach to photovoltaics in space.

Meanwhile, new solar power facilities geared towards space missions will be completed by the end of this year in Chongqing, southwest China, and tests will begin in 2022. From this development, the first experimental station space solar energy From China it will be launched in 2030.

Chinese technology is also designed to harness the sun’s captured energy in space on Earth. will contain a The satellite It orbits at an altitude of approximately 36,000 km, dedicated to collecting solar energy and then deriving it back to Earth through microwaves, Conversion to electricity.

Cover Photo: Artistic recreation of a solar-powered satellite in space. Credit: net image/New Times.