Tenders Are Invited For High Efficient Cost Effective Solar Cells Expro

Tenders are invited for High Efficient Cost Effective Solar Cells EXPRO. Objective: Development of solar cells with high efficiency and cost reduction. 50% cost reduction of state of the art space solar cells. Target in efficiency of 28% BOL, 25% EOL and based on III-V multijunction technology.Description: The current landscape of satellite production is dominated by a strong need in the cost reduction. This is particularly true for the solar cells to be used in space application, where cost on system level is strongly related to efficiency. In order to remain competitive in this market sector significant development activities are required to not fall behind and create dependencies on non-European countries. Therefore, on solar cell level, innovative solutions are needed that aim at a best compromise between cost and efficiency. Furthermore, solar cell lead times from European solar cell manufacturers currently can easily exceed 24 months. This puts a threat also to a number of ESA missions which strongly depend on those solar cells. If Europe fails to change this situation quickly there is a high risk that these supply gaps might be filled by non-European suppliers. The consequences of such a scenario has been seen in the past in the terrestrial photovoltaic market and has to be avoided by all means. The target of this activity is to obtain 50% cost reduction with respect to state of the art space solar cells, with a target in efficiency of 28% BOL, 25% EOL and based on III-V multijunction technology. Implicitly a cost reduction will also be typically accompanied by a strong reduction in process time and consequently will lead to an increase in throughput and in production capacity. Thus, a European product will be made available which is at the same timecompetitive in terms of price and also available in sufficient quantities to address the market needs. Several strategies can be followed to reduce the costs, like e.g. increasing the automation and standardisation of all the processes within the manufacturing line of solar cells. Another important aspect would be the reduction of the epitaxial growth times by increasing growth rates. The first tests have been performed showing that growth times can be reduced from several hours to around 5-10 minutes. And then also spin-in from terrestrial photovoltaic production shall be investigated. This activity encompasses the following tasks: - Solar cell designdefinition targeting BOL efficiency of 28% and 25% EOL (1E15 1MeV electron equivalent) with significantly reduced complexity allowing for cost reduction of 50% - Derivation of technology building blocks for achieving the above defined targets - First breadboarding of solar cells with the defined design and using innovative manufacturing processes to achieve the targeted cost reduction - Testing the breadboard, such as irradiation test campaigns with electrical performance tests before and after. Read less Directorate Directorate of Tech, Eng. Quality Estabilishment ESTEC Open Date 02/03/2026 12:56 CET Closing Date 23/04/2026 13:00 CET ECOS Required No Classified No Price Range > 500 KEURO Authorised Contact Person Maxime Guy Initiating Service TEC-EPG IP Measure N/A Prog. Reference E/0901-01 - Technology Developme Tender Type Open Competition Open To Tenderers From AT+BE+CH+CZ+DE+DK+EE+GR+ES+FI+FR+GB+HU+IE+IT+LU+NL+NO+PL+PT+RO+SE+SI Technology Keywords 3-B-I-Photovoltaic Generator Technology Products Keywords 2-J-1.1-a-Solar Cells Assemblies (SCA) with inter-connectors and coverglass 2-J-1.1-c-Solar Cells Tender Link : https://esastar-publication-ext.sso.esa.int/ESATenderActions/filter/open

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