First Solar Panels In Space

Solar panels in outer space some of the earliest uses of solar technology were actually in outer space where solar was used to power satellites.

First solar panels in space.

Scientists are testing a new durable recyclable and efficient material that could soon power habitats on the moon. Building solar panels in space might be as easy as clicking print nasa. This was largely because of the influence of dr. The european space agency s solar orbiter spacecraft launched in february.

In 1958 the vanguard i satellite used a tiny one watt panel to power its radios. Although it had only a 1 watt cell used to power its radio this was the beginning. Just four years after the first working solar cell was developed on march 17 1958 the naval research laboratory built and launched vanguard 1 the world s first solar powered satellite. Further satellites such as vanguard ii sputnik 3 and the explorer iii also used solar panels.

Hans ziegler who can be regarded as the father of spacecraft solar power. Three of the solar orbiter spacecraft s instruments including imperial s magnetometer have released their first data. 1960 hoffman electronics creates a 14 efficient solar cell. Just in time for the space race the first solar panels made their debut in the satellite industry.

This set the precedent of using solar on space flights and after that both the united states and the soviet union continued using solar panels on space flight culminating in the first use of solar panels for a manned spacecraft the soviet union s soyuz 1 which was unfortunately plagued by technical issues and whose one man crew died during landing the first ever spaceflight casualty. The satellite was powered by silicon solar cells with 10 conversion efficiency. 1959 hoffman electronics creates a 10 efficient commercial solar cell and introduces the use of a grid contact reducing the cell s resistance. The first space application of solar panels came in 1958 when the vanguard i satellite was launched.

The first spacecraft to use solar panels was the vanguard 1 satellite launched by the us in 1958. Later that year the vanguard ii explorer iii and sputnik 3 were all launched with pv technology on board. Courtesy of john perlin.