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Emerging photovoltaics for onboard space applications

Nature Reviews Materials (2024)Cite this article

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Thin-film solar cells are promising for providing cost-effective and reliable power in space, especially in multi-junction applications. To enhance efficiency, robustness and integration, advancements at the cell level must be combined with improvements in assembly and panel design. Ensuring that solar cells can provide sustained performance is also essential for minimizing space debris.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the State of New South Wales (NSW) Space Research Network (SRN) Pilot Research Project RP220107. A.W.Y.H.-B. is also supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) via Future Fellowships FT210100210. M.A.M. is a recipient of the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Early Career Researcher Grant (ECRG) ALNGRA2310.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Anita Wing Yi Ho-Baillie, Iver H. Cairns, Laura Granados-Caro, Jasmyn Curry, Tik Lun Leung, Md Arafat Mahmud & David McKenzie

  2. The University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano), The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Anita Wing Yi Ho-Baillie, Laura Granados-Caro, Tik Lun Leung, Md Arafat Mahmud & David McKenzie

  3. Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP), School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Anita Wing Yi Ho-Baillie, Stephen Bremner, Gavin Conibeer, Nicholas Ekins-Daukes & Santosh Shrestha

  4. Centre for Accelerator Science, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, New South Wales, Australia

    Ceri Brenner & Stefania Peracchi

  5. ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs, and Their Applications (CUAVA), The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Iver H. Cairns

  6. Skykraft Pty Ltd, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Douglas Griffin

  7. COSMIAC, School of Engineering, The University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, NM, USA

    David Wilt

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  1. Anita Wing Yi Ho-Baillie
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Correspondence to Anita Wing Yi Ho-Baillie.

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Ho-Baillie, A.W.Y., Bremner, S., Brenner, C. et al. Emerging photovoltaics for onboard space applications. Nat Rev Mater (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-024-00723-9

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