The future of space photovoltaics – challenges and opportunities

While for around two decades the space photovoltaic market was almost exclusively dominated by III-V solar cells this might change in the years to come. Substantial changes in the industrial landscape accompanied by reduced launch costs and an unprecedented rise in demand has led to a situation where the III-V solar cell manufacturing capacity potentially might not be sufficient to satisfy the market needs. Market projections for the coming years suggest that space solar cell demand will remain high which offers opportunities to new technologies. A revival of Silicon based solar cells is already seen in the case of the Starlink constellation. Other technologies such as e.g. Perovskite solar cells might offer other advantages that would allow them to also get their share in this growing market. III-V solar cells will remain for many missions the best choice. However, major challenges are seen for those current state-of-the-art devices, first in increasing the production capacity and second in reducing production cost and ultimately cell price.