Photovoltaic companies join forces to develop new space-specific solar technology

On August 5, US solar company Solestial announced a strategic partnership with Swiss solar company Meyer Burger Technologies to significantly expand the production of silicon solar technology.

Solestial, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, USA, has radiation-hardened solar cells and flexible solar modules designed for long-term space applications. Swiss listed company Meyer Burger has expertise in solar cell and module manufacturing.

Through this partnership, Solestial and Meyer Burger plan to produce 1 megawatt of solar cells per year by mid-2025. In comparison, Solestial currently produces less than 100 kilowatts per year.

Solestial COO Andy Atherton told the media: "This is a huge scale expansion for Solestial. It is also worth noting that the current global space-specific solar production capacity is less than 2 megawatts. So through this partnership, we will expand the scale globally."

With solar technology that relies on sunlight to anneal (or heal) radiation damage, Solestial completed a $10 million financing round led by Airbus Ventures in 2022. Last year, Solestial announced a deal to provide solar arrays for a space tug developed by Denver startup Atomos Space.

The report said that through the new collaboration, Solestial and Meyer Burger intend to "revolutionize space solar energy" by providing "ultra-thin, reliable, radiation-hardened cells and modules at an unprecedented scale."

Under the strategic cooperation agreement, Solestial and Meyer Burger will share their proprietary solar cell technology. Meyer Burger will produce solar cells at its German manufacturing plant and ship them to Solestial's facility in Tempe, Arizona, for metallization, finishing and integration into flexible solar modules.

“Meyer Burger is involved in industries that require our proprietary and advanced technologies,” Meyer Burger CEO Gunter Erfurt said in a statement.

The partnership will allow Solestial to “take the next step in scaling production to serve our customers and meet the growing demand for reliable, cost-effective and abundant space energy,” Solestial CEO Stan Herasimenka said in a statement.

Solestial aims to support space infrastructure by lowering the cost of solar energy and improving reliability.

For Starpath, a California company focused on producing rocket propellant from lunar and Martian resources, Solestial’s technology is critical. “At the cost and scale of production for space solar energy yesterday, our mission would have been too expensive to accomplish,” Starpath CEO Saurav Shroff said in a statement. “Solestial’s solar technology is a key to Starpath, and we believe it can open the door to other next-generation space infrastructure as well.”