MICROLINK DEVICES INC — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: Z8.03
MICROLINK DEVICES INC — SBIR Phase I award from National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
- Amount
- $125,000
- Agency
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Topic
- Z8.03
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- IL
- Period
- 2017-06-09 → 2017-12-08
Description
MicroLink proposes to develop and test, a new type of photovoltaic module that will be suitable for use in SmallSat and CubeSat platforms requiring maximum power in a highly stowable format. MicroLink proposes to assemble and test a completed series array of five 20 cm2 cells that will output in excess of 3.5 W while demonstrating a pathway for producing significantly larger arrays capable of outputting powers in excess of 100 W. The typical areal weight of conventional Ge-based space cells with a 5 mil thick rigid coverglass exceeds 1,000 g/m2. MicroLink's proposed flexible photovoltaic module with ultra-thin ELO solar cells and flexible coverglass material will not only be flexible and comparable in efficiency to Ge-based cells but also have an areal mass of less than 400 g/m2. This represents greater than a 60% reduction in weight which is of particular importance for SmallSat and CubeSat applications.