Spectrolab Inc. is a manufacturer of space solar cells and panels headquartered in Sylmar, California. It is a subsidiary of The Boeing Company, and part of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
History Spectrolab was founded in 1956 by Alfred E. Mann, a billionaire American entrepreneur and philanthropist.
In 1960, Spectrolab was sold to Textron Inc alongside Heliotek, another of Mann's companies. At Textron, it was known as the Heliotek divison. Mann would continue to lead the company until 1972, when he left for Pacesetter.
Spectrolab was acquired by and became a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft Company in 1975.
Citing decreased sales due to lower interest in satellite home-entertainment, Spectrolab begins investing into gallium arsenide solar cells as a substitute to silicon in 1981.
In 1998, Spectrolab announced that they had successfully used dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells after more than ten years in development. They had an efficiency of 21.6%.
In conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Spectrolab announced in 1999 a 32.3% conversion efficiency, a world record at the time, with a triple-junction concentrator solar cell.
In 2000, Boeing acquired Spectrolab from Hughes.
The company states its "NeXt Triple Junction" high efficiency solar cells have a minimum average efficiency of 29.5% to AIAA-2005-111 and AIAA-2005-112 requirements. In 2009, testing at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory demonstrated an efficiency of 41.6% under concentration for solar cells developed by Spectrolab.
In 2012, Spectrolab announced plans to increase its focus on the terrestrial market using concentrators. Spectrolab's terrestrial concentrating cell shows greater than 30% AM1.5D min. avg. efficiency from 200 to 400 Suns concentration in production.
In 2013, testing at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory demonstrated an efficiency of 38.7% without concentration, a new world record at the time.
In 2014, Spectrolab announced that they manufactured their 4 millionth gallium arsenide based solar cell for use in space.
Using optical band-pass filtering and a separate silicon cell, 40% efficiency (with concentrators) was independently confirmed with a solar collector featuring Spectrolab triple-junction solar cells in 2015.
Products
Solar Cells The company's triple junction solar cells use germanium, InGaP2, and gallium arsenide to achieve their efficiency.
Searchlights Spectrolab is the manufacturer of the Nightsun line of airborne searchlights.
Notable Contributions Spectrolab is a major supplier of solar cells for space use. They have provided cells for spacecraft manufacturers such as Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, and their parent company Boeing. In 2000, they were the supplier for more than half of the world's spacecraft solar cells. The following are notable examples of spacecraft that have featured Spectrolab cells:
Pioneer 1: Launched in 1958, the probe carried Spectrolab's first body-mounted solar panels. Explorer 6: This 1959 satellite provided the first photo of Earth from space and also carried Spectrolab's first solar arrays. Apollo 11: Spectrolab developed the solar technology for the Early Apollo Surface Experiments Package, which was left behind on the moon in 1969. They also contributed space batteries. PAS-5: Launched in 1997, this communications satellite from PanAmSat represented the first commercial spacecraft to use dual-junction solar cells as a primary power source. Mars Exploration Rover: Spectrolab solar cells were used for the foldable solar panels on both the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Juno: Interplanetary NASA probe which travelled to Jupiter. At the time, this was the farthest any solar-powered spacecraft had travelled from the sun. International Space Station: Spectrolab, along with Deployable Space Systems and Boeing, provided six Roll Out Solar Arrays that supplemented the ISS' original arrays. They were delivered two at a time from 2021 to 2023. Spectrolab also provided cells for the original set of solar panels on the station.
See Also Multi-junction solar cell Timeline of solar cells
References
External links Official website