The University of Malaga’s (UMA) Materials and Surfaces Laboratory is participating in an international consortium that has received one of the eight grants to achieve advances in the fields of in-space solar energy collection and transmission and the new concepts of propulsion that will be used by the energy obtained.
The grant, ‘Horizon EIC Pathfinder Challenges – In-space solar energy harvesting for innovative space applications’, is awarded at the European level.
Coordinated by the University of Lund (Sweden), the ‘ZEUS’ (Zero-loss energy harvesting using nanowire solar cells in space) project has been granted almost €4m over the next four years. The other participants, along with the UMA, that make up the project are the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Germany), the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain) and the Technological Institute of Packaging, Transport and Logistics (Spain).
Radiation-resistant photovoltaic technology
‘ZEUS’ will focus on advancing the development of nanowire solar cells, a radiation-resistant photovoltaic technology capable of absorbing solar energy in space, where the environment is highly aggressive.
Nanowires are needle-shaped structures with a diameter of 200nm, a thousand times thinner than human hair, said Enrique Barrigón, professor of the Department of Applied Physics I, the researcher who will lead the project at UMA.
Their nanometric scale and careful geometric distribution make them behave as “hollow” devices from the point of view of radiation damage, which significantly increases their resistance to radiation, while effectively collecting nearly 100% of the possible incoming light, due to the improved optical absorption that occurs in these cells.
“Covering approximately 10% of a surface with active material is all that is needed to absorb as much light as a thin layer covering the entire surface of the same material would do,” Barrigón said.
Greater efficiency
Barrigón added that while current space-tested nanowire solar cells offer around 15% efficiency, ZEUS aims to increase this using triple junction nanowire cells with a set of III-V semiconductor materials, potentially reaching 47% theoretical efficiency.
The project will also investigate the transfer of these solar cells onto lightweight, flexible substrates, which would enable the creation of large deployable photovoltaic panels.
Environmental sustainability
The project’s commitment to sustainability focuses on two key aspects: decarbonization and the efficient use of critical raw materials.
“ZEUS aims to demonstrate not only the commercial potential of the technology, but also the environmental benefits by means of a life cycle assessment of nanowire solar cells, particularly for space energy generation,” Barrigón said.
Increasing the electrical power of communications satellites is one of its possible applications, among others.
The main tasks of the University of Malaga in this international research will be the advanced characterization of these solar cells and the execution of the necessary tests to evaluate their resistance in the space environment.
Revolutionary technology
The Horizon EIC Pathfinder Challenges program awards grants to projects that explore new technological areas, especially deeptech – based on a scientific discovery or a significant engineering innovation – which may become radically innovative technologies in the future, capable of creating new market opportunities. The overall goal is to feed the innovation market with revolutionary technologies and get them to the proof-of-concept stage.
UMA has another project in the same programme: BioRobot-MiniHeart, whose principal researcher is Juan Antonio Guadix, from the Department of Animal Biology. In the previous H2020 program, another proposal from the UMA was also recognised: ‘SONICOM’ (Transforming auditory-based social interaction and communication in AR/VR), by Arcadio Reyes, Department of Electronic Technology.
Jim Cornall is editor of Deeptech Digest and publisher at Ayr Coastal Media. He is an award-winning writer, editor, photographer, broadcaster, designer and author. Contact Jim here.
