A Novel, Light Weight Solar Array: Comparison with Conventional Systems

A novel, lightweight solar panel design is described incorporating the best features from three separate areas of development: 1) advanced solar cells 2) light weight, flexible blanket technology and 3) deploment by inflation. inflatable framing structure or torus within which the panel remains suspended. Development of such an Inflatable Torus Solar Array Technology (ITSAT), is well underway [3-41. A key feature is that the frame can be engineered to become permanently rigid in space, thereby eliminating the need for sustaining gas and supplemental supporting hardware. Inflation deployed panels of various powers incorporating four different types of low mass solar cells are studied with respect to conventional systems. Depending on panel size and cell type, five-fold and three-fold improvements in specific powers (W/kg) can be realized compared to present state of the art rigid and flexible systems respectively.