Spectrolab

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Spectrolab, headquartered in Sylmar, California, is a subsidiary of The Boeing Company that manufacturers space solar cells and panels. It is also a subsidiary of the Boeing Satellite Development Center, which is a unit of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. It was founded in 1956 by Alfred E. Mann, who has gone on to become a billionaire American entrepreneur and philanthropist. Spectrolab was acquired by Hughes Aircraft Company in 1975 and became a subsidiary of Hughes until its sale to Boeing in 2000. The company claims its "Ultra-Triple-Junction" high efficiency solar cells have a minimum average efficiency of 28.3%. In 2006 testing at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory demonstrated an efficiency of 40.7% using triple-junction solar cells developed by Spectrolab.

[edit] Solar cells

The company's ultra triple junction solar cells use exotic materials like germanium, GaInP2, and gallium arsenide to achieve their efficiency.[1][2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Datasheet: 28.3% Ultra Triple Junction (UTJ) Solar Cells. Spectrolab.
  2. ^ http://www.spectrolab.com/DataSheets/TerCel/tercell.pdf

[edit] External links