Ultralight Energy Converter Tile for the Space Solar Power Initiative

Abstract

We have fabricated a functional prototype of an ultralight power converter tile; a modular building block for a space-based solar power system. The tile is ∼10×15 cm in area, and weighs ∼1.5 kg/m^2. It comprises a photovoltaic (PV) solar energy collector, a radio-frequency (RF) power converter, and an array of transmission antennas. The PV collector subassembly utilizes ∼15x, 1D parabolic trough reflective concentrators with triple-junction (3J) solar cells. It has areal mass of ∼0.8 kg/m^2, 74% optical efficiency, and a peak specific power of ∼230W/kg. We demonstrated wireless power transmission over a distance of ∼50 cm in our lab. Analysis of the sources of mass and inefficiency suggest a path towards achieving dramatically higher performance with future designs.

Additional details