Solestial and Meyer Burger forge deal to develop photo voltaic cell manufacturing

LOGAN, Utah — Solestial introduced a strategic partnership Aug. 5 with Meyer Burger Expertise to dramatically develop manufacturing of silicon photo voltaic expertise.

Tempe, Arizona-based Solestial’s radiation-resistant photo voltaic cells and versatile solar energy modules are designed for long-term area functions. Meyer Burger, a publicly traded Swiss firm, brings experience in manufacturing photo voltaic cells and modules.

Via the partnership, Solestial and Meyer Burger plan to provide 1 megawatt of photo voltaic cells yearly by mid-2025. For comparability, Solestial presently produces lower than 100 kilowatts per yr.

“It is a large scale up for Solestial,” Andy Atherton, Solestial chief operations officer, advised SpaceNews by e-mail. “It’s additionally price noting that your complete international manufacturing capability for space-specialized photo voltaic is lower than 2 megawatts at present. So, we’re including significant international scale with this partnership.”

Countering Radiation

With photo voltaic expertise that depends on daylight to anneal (or remedy) radiation harm, Solestial closed a $10 million funding spherical led by Airbus Ventures in 2022. Final yr, Solestial introduced an settlement to provide photo voltaic arrays for area tugs developed by Denver startup Atomos Area.

Via the brand new partnership, Solestial and Meyer Burger intend to “revolutionize area solar energy” by delivering “ultra-thin, dependable, radiation-hardened cells and modules at unprecedented scale,” in line with the information launch.

The strategic partnership settlement calls on Solestial to share its proprietary photo voltaic cell expertise with Meyer Burger. Meyer Burger, in flip, will produce photo voltaic cells at its German manufacturing plant and ship them to Solestial’s facility in Tempe, AZ for metallization, ending and integration into versatile solar energy modules.

“Meyer Burger stretches into industries that want our proprietary know-how and superior applied sciences,” Meyer Burger CEO Gunter Erfurt stated in an announcement.

Scaling Manufacturing

Solestial CEO Stan Herasimenka stated in an announcement that the partnership will permit Solestial to “take the following step in scaling manufacturing, delivering for our prospects and assembly the ever-growing demand for dependable, cost-effective and plentiful power in area.”

By making solar energy more cost effective and extra dependable, Solestial intends to assist space-based infrastructure.

For Starpath, a California firm centered on producing rocket propellant with assets on the moon and Mars, Solestial’s expertise is important. “At yesterday’s price and manufacturing scale of space-capable photo voltaic, our mission could be prohibitively costly to perform,” Starpath CEO Saurav Shroff stated in an announcement. “Solestial’s photo voltaic expertise is an unlock for Starpath and, we consider, for different next-generation area infrastructure

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