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 "NeXt Triple Junction" high efficiency solar cells have a minimum average efficiency of 29.9%. In 2006 testing at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory demonstrated an efficiency of 40.7% using triple-junction solar cells developed by Spectrolab.
Spectrolab has recently geared its highly efficient space solar cell technology for terrestrial purposes with great success using concentrators. Spectrolab's terrestrial products are the highest efficient solar cells currently available in the market.
The company's ultra triple junction solar cells use exotic materials like germanium, GaInP2, and gallium arsenide to achieve their efficiency.[1][2]