- Fantastic power plants
It is no secret that in line with a constant struggle for more productive, ecological and cheap energy, humanity is increasingly resorting to the help of alternative sources of preparation of precious energy. In many countries, a rather extensive number of inhabitants have determined the need for the use of electricity dwellings.
Some of them came to this conclusion due to difficult settlements for saving material funds, and some of these responsible step forced circumstances, one of which is a hard-to-reach geographical location that causes the lack of reliable communications. But not only in such hard-to-reach places you need solar panels. There are boundaries, much remotely, rather than the edge of the earth is space. The solar battery in space is the only source of generation of the required amount of electricity.
Space Solar Power Basics
The idea to apply solar batteries in space for the first time appeared more than half a century ago, during the first launches of artificial earth satellites. At that time, in the USSR, a professor and a specialist in the field of physics, especially in the field of electricity - Nikolai Stepanovich Ladenko, substantiated the need to apply infinite energy sources on spacecraft. Such an energy could only be the energy of the Sun, which was mined with solar modules.
Currently, all space stations are functioning exclusively at the expense of solar energy.
The cosmos itself is a great helper in this case, since the sun's rays, so necessary for the photosynthesis in, in excess are available in outer space, and there is no interference to consume them.
The disadvantage of the use of solar batteries in the near-earth orbit, the influence of radiation on the material manufacturing material N. Due to this negative effect, the structure of solar cells is changed, which entails a decrease in electricity generation.
Fantastic power plants
In the scientific laboratories of the whole land, currently, a similar task is occurring - the search for free electricity from the Sun. Only not across a separate house or city, but in the size of the entire planet. The essence of this work is to create huge in size, and, accordingly, the production of energy, solar modules.
The area of \u200b\u200bsuch modules is huge and placing them on the surface of the Earth will entail a lot of difficulties, such as:
- significant and free areas for installing light receivers,
- the effect of meteo conditions on and efficiency of modules,
- service costs and cleaning of solar panels.
All these negative aspects exclude the installation of such monumental structures on Earth. But there is a way out. It is in the installation of giant solar modules at an near-earth orbit. When implementing such an idea, humanity receives a sunny source of energy, which is always under the influence of sunlight, never requires cleaning from snow, and most importantly will not occupy useful space on Earth.
Of course, the one who is the first for space will be in the future to dictate its conditions in world energy. It is no secret that, the reserves of minerals on our land is not simply not infinite, but on the contrary every day it reminds that he will soon have to go to alternative sources in a compulsory basis. That is why, the development of cosmic solar modules on earth orbit is in the list of the priority tasks of energy and specialists that design the power plants of the future.
See also:
Problems of placement of solar modules in the Earth orbit
The difficulties of the birth of such power plants, not only in the installation, delivery and basing of solar modules in the near-earth orbit. The largest problems causes the transfer developed by solar modules to the consumer, that is, to the ground. Wires, of course, do not give out, and you will not be transported in the container. There are almost unreal technologies for transmitting energy at distances without tangible materials. But such technologies cause many contradictory hypotheses in the scientific world.
Firstly, such a strong radiation will adversely affect the extensive range of signal reception, that is, there will be irradiation of a significant piece of our planet. And if such space stations will become a lot with time? This can lead to the irradiation of the entire surface of the planet, the result of which will be unpredictable consequences.
Secondly The negative point may be partial destruction of the upper layers of the atmosphere and the ozone layer, in the power transfer places from the power plant to the receiver. The consequences of this kind may even assume the child.
In the appendage to everything, there are many nuances of various nature that increase negative points, and the time of launching such devices. Such freelance situations may be many, from the difficulty of repairing panels, in the event of an unforeseen breakdown or collision with a cosmic body, to a banal problem - how to dispose of such an unusual structure, after the deadline for its operation.
Despite all the negative moments, they are going to mankind, as they say, has nowhere. Solar energy, today, the only source of energy that can cover the growing needs of people in electricity in the theory. None of the existing energy sources on Earth cannot compare with its future prospects with this unique phenomenon.
Approximate deadlines
It has long ceased to be theoretical question. For 2040, the first launch of a power plant for Earth's orbit was already scheduled. Of course, this is only a trial model, and it is far from those global structures that are planned to be built in the future. The essence of such a launch is to look in practice - how such a power station will work in the working conditions. A country that has assumed such a difficult mission - Japan. The estimated area of \u200b\u200bbatteries, theoretically, should be about four square kilometers. 
If the experiments show that such a phenomenon as a solar power plant may exist, the main direction of solar energy will receive a clear path to master such inventions. If an economic aspect, can not stop the whole thing at the initial stage. The fact is that according to theoretical estimates, in order to launch a full-fledged solar power plant into orbit, more than two hundred launches of freight rocket carriers are necessary. To note, the cost of one launch of a heavy truck, based on the existing statistics, is approximately 0.5 - 1 billion dollars. Arithmetic is simple, and the results are not comforting.
The resulting amount is enormous, and it will only go to the delivery of disassembled elements into orbit, and it is necessary to still collect the entire designer.
Summing up the whole thing, it can be noted that the creation of a space solar power plant is a matter of time, but to build such a design for the power of superpowers, which will be able to master the entire burden of economic burden on the implementation of the process.
These are photovoltaic converters - semiconductor devices converting solar energy into a constant electric current. Simply put, these are the basic elements of the device that we call "solar panels". With the help of such batteries at space orbits, artificial earth satellites work. Make such batteries in our Krasnodar - at the Saturn plant. Plant's management invited the author of this blog to look at the production process and tell about him in his diary.
1. The company in Krasnodar enters the structure of the Federal Space Agency, but owns "Saturn" the company "Ochakovo", which in the literal sense saved this production in the 1990s. Owners "Ochakovo" bought a controlling stake, which almost went to the Americans. Ochakovo has invested here a lot of money, purchased modern equipment, managed to keep specialists and now Saturn is one of the two leaders in the Russian market for solar and rechargeable batteries for the needs of the space industry - civil and military. All the profits receive "Saturn" remains here in Krasnodar, and goes to the development of the production base.
2. So, everything starts here - on the site of the so-called. gas-phase epitaxy. In this room there is a gas reactor in which a crystalline layer is grown on a substrate from Germany, which will serve as the basis for the future photocell. The cost of such an installation is about three million euros.
3. After that, the substrate has to go through a long way: on both sides of the photocell will apply electrical contacts (and, on the working side, the contact will have a "comb-comb", the dimensions of which are carefully calculated to ensure maximum passage of sunlight), an enlightening will appear on the substrate Coating, etc. - There are only more than two dozen technological operations on various installations before the photocell becomes the basis of the solar battery.
4. For example, the installation of photolithography. Here on the photocells are formed "drawings" of electrical contacts. The machine produces all operations automatically, according to a given program. Here and the light is appropriate, which does not harm the photosensitive layer of the photocell - as before, in the era of the analog photography, we used the "red" lamps.
5. Electrical contacts and dielectrics are applied in the vacuum of spraying with the electronic beam, and enlightening coatings are applied (they increase the current generated by a photocell by 30%).
6. Well, the photocell is ready and you can proceed to the assembly of the solar battery. Tires are soldered to the surface of the photocell, to connect them to each other, and the protective glass is pasted on them, without which in space, under radiation conditions, the photocell may not withstand loads. And, although the glass thickness is only 0.12 mm, the battery with such photocelements will work for a long time in orbit (at high orbits for more than fifteen years).
6A 
6b. 
7. The electrical connection of the photo cells among themselves is carried out by silver contacts (they are called savings) with a thickness of only 0.02 mm.
8. To get the desired voltage in the network generated by the solar panel, the photocells are connected in series. This is what the section of sequentially connected photocells looks like (photoelectric converters is so correct).
9. Finally, the solar battery is collected. Here only part of the battery is shown here - the panel in the layout format. Such panels on the satellite can be up to eight, depending on which power is needed. On modern communication satellites, it reaches 10 kW. Such panels will be mounted on a satellite, in space they will roll up like wings and with their help we will watch satellite TV, use satellite Internet, navigation systems (GLONASS satellites are used by Krasnodar solar panels).
9A. 
10. When the spacecraft is illuminated by the Sun, the electricity produced by the solar battery feeds the system of the device, and excess energy is intensified in the rechargeable battery. When the spacecraft is in the shade from the ground, the device uses electricity, stored in the battery. A nickel-hydrogen battery, having a high energy intensity (60 W h / kg) and a practically inexhaustible resource, is widely used on spacecraft. Production of such batteries is another part of the Saturn plant.
At this picture, the assembly of the nickel-hydrogen battery is produced by the cavalier of the medal of the Order "For Merit Before Fatherland" II degree of Anatoly Dmitrievich Panin.
10A 
11. Plot of assembly of nickel-hydrogen batteries. The battery filling is prepared for accommodation in the case. Filling is positive and negative electrodes separated by separator paper - in them and the conversion and accumulation of energy occurs.
12. Installation for electron beam welding in vacuum with which the body of a fine metal battery is manufactured.
13. The site of the workshop, where the hulls and parts of the batteries are tested on the impact of increased pressure.
Due to the fact that the accumulation of energy in the battery is accompanied by the formation of hydrogen, and the pressure inside the battery rises, tested for tightness - an integral part of the process of manufacturing batteries.
14. Case of nickel-hydrogen battery is a very important detail of the entire device working in space. The housing is designed for pressure of 60 kg · C / cm 2, when testing, the gap occurred at a pressure of 148 kg · C / cm 2.
15. Strength-tested batteries are filled with electrolyte and hydrogen, after which they are ready to work.
16. The housing of the nickel-hydrogen battery is manufactured from a special alloy of metals and must be mechanically durable, easy and possess high thermal conductivity. Batteries are installed in cells and do not touch each other.
17. Batteries and batteries collected from them are subjected to electrical tests on their own production. In space, it will be no longer possible to fix anything and replace, so each product is thoroughly experienced.
17A. 
17b. 
18. All space technology is subject to mechanical effects with vibration stands that imitate loads when removing the spacecraft in orbit.
18A. 
19. In general, the plant "Saturn" made the most favorable impression. The production is well organized, the workshop is clean and bright, people work qualified, communicate with such experts is one pleasure and very interesting to a person, even to some extent interested in our space. I left "Saturn" in a great mood - it is always nice to see our place where you are not engaged in empty chatters and do not shift the papers, but do the present, serious business, successfully compete with the same manufacturers in other countries. There would be more such in Russia.
Photos: © Drugoi
P.S. Blog of Vice President Marketing of the company "Ochakovo"
In 1945, these intelligence data were obtained on the US Army of Radio Traffic Devices. This was reported by I.V. Stalin, who immediately organized the release of decisions on the equipment of the Soviet Army by means of radio communications. An element electro-galvanic institute was created, subsequently called "Kvant". In a short time, the Collate of the Institute was able to create a wide series of current sources required for radio engineering.
Nikolai Stepanovich Ladenko headed a scientific and production enterprise (NPP) "Kvant" from 1950 to 1984.
Since 1950, the Institute has been engaged in the creation of electric generating systems for the Berkut project. The essence of the project was to create a Moscow missile defense system using anti-aircraft missiles. N.S. Lidorenko was summoned in the third head of the Council of Ministers, and he was asked to lead work on this topic, while secret. It was necessary to create a system for ensuring the electricity of the anti-aircraft installation and the rocket itself in flight. The use of generating devices based on ordinary acid electrolytes in the rocket was impossible. N.S. Lidorenko set the task to work out the sources of current with salt (non-water-containing) electrolytes. Salt as an electrolyte was packaged in a dry form. During the launch of the rocket inside the battery at the right moment, the pyropatron was sold, the heat melted the salt, and only after that an electric current was produced. This principle was used in the C-25 system.
In 1950 to N.S. Lidorenko addressed Sergey Pavlovich Korolev who worked on the rocket P-2. Flight of the multistage rocket turned into a complex technological process. Team led by N.S. Lidorenko, autonomous energy supply systems P-2 rockets were created, and subsequently, for the next-generation R-5 missile. Sources of high power nutrition were required: it was necessary to provide food not only the power of the rocket itself, but also nuclear charges. For these purposes it was assumed to use thermal batteries.
In September 1955, the construction of a nuclear submarine K-3 "Lenin Komsomol" was launched. It was a forced answer to the introduction of the American nuclear submarine "Nautilus" in January 1955. One of the most vulnerable links were batteries. As sources of TK N.S. Lidorenko offered to use silver-based elements and zinc. The energy intensity of the battery was increased 5 times, so that the devices were able to give about 40,000 amps / hours, from 1 million J in the beam. Two years later, Lenin Komsomol was published on combat duty. The reliability and effectiveness of the N.S. created under the leadership were demonstrated. Lidorenko battery devices that were 3 times more powerful of their American counterpart.
The next stage of the activities of N.S. Lidenko was the development of electric batteries for torpedoes. The difficulty consisted of the need for independent power sources at a small volume, but it was successfully overcome.
A special place is occupied by work on the creation of the famous Korolev "seven" - R-7 rockets. The initial point in the conduct of large-scale work on rocket topics was the decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of May 13, 1946, signed by I.V. Stalin. Nowadays, some journalists are trendy trying to explain that the leadership of our country by space projects paid to the leadership of our country, primarily military interests. This is not the case, as evidenced by the available documentary materials of that time. Although, of course, there were exceptions. So, N.S. Khrushchev several times with distrust reading reports S.P. The Korolev, but was forced to treat the problem seriously only after the message of the KGB chairman about the unsuccessful launch of the American Rocket "Red Stone", from which the American machine is able to bring a satellite into orbit in size from approximately an orange. But for the Korolev himself, it was much more significant that the R-7 rocket was able to fly into space.
On October 4, 1957, a successful launch of the world's first artificial satellite was made. Autonomous satellite power system was developed by N.S. Lidorenko.
The second Soviet satellite was launched with a dog husky on board. Systems created under the direction of N.S. Lidorenko, provided vital activity on a satellite with a multitude of current source of various purposes and design.
During this period, N.S. Lidorenko came to understanding the possibility of using at the time new, infinite power supply - sunlight. Solar energy was transformed into electrical cells based on silicon semiconductors. At that time, the cycle of fundamental works on physics was completed, and photocells (photo converters) operating on the principle of converting falling solar photon radiation were opened.
It is this source that is solar batteries - was the main and almost infinite source of energy for the third Soviet artificial satellite of the Earth - an automatic orbital laboratory, weighing about one and a half tons.
Preparation began on the first flight into human space. Sleepless nights, long hours of hard work ... And so, it came this day. Remembers N.S. Lidorenko: "In just a day before the Gagarin start, on the board of the main designers, the question is solved ... silent. Korolev:" Well, again, what is your opinion? "Silently silent the hall." So I take a stool for the consent sign. " The Korolev signs, and we are all twelve signatures from behind, and flew gagarin ... "
A month before the flight of Gagarin - March 4, 1961 - in the first in history, the warheads of the strategic rocket was intercepted. The source of nutrition of a fundamentally new type of equipment is the B-1000 anti-missiles - there was a battery created by the Kvant association.
In 1961, the work on the creation of the Zenit class spacecraft was also launched - with complex systems of single nutrition from large blocks, which included from 20 to 50 batteries.
In response to the event on April 12, 1961, US President John Kennedy said: "Russians discovered this decade. We will close it." He reported on the intention to send a person to the moon.
In the US, seriously began to think about placing weapons in space. In the early 60s, US military and politicians built the militarization plans of the Moon - an ideal place for the command paragraph and military missile database. From the words of Stanley Gardner, the US Air Force: "In two or three decades of the moon, in our economic, technical and military significance, there will be no less value in our eyes than those or other key areas on Earth, for the sake of possession of which the basic military clashes took place" .
The physicist J. Alferov conducted a series of studies by the properties of heterostructural interferences - man-made crystals created by the method of layer-by-layer spraying of various components into one atomic layer.
N.S. Lidenko decided to immediately implement in a large-scale experiment and technique of this theory. On the Soviet Automatic Space Actuate - Munovoda for the first time in the world, solar panels operating on Gallii arsenide and capable of withstanding high temperatures above 140-150 degrees Celsius were installed. The batteries were installed on the folding lid of the lion. On November 17, 1970, at 7 o'clock 20 minutes Moscow time, Moonhod-1 touched the surface of the moon. From the Flight Management Center received a team on the inclusion of solar panels. For a long time, there was no response from the solar panels, but then the signal passed, and the solar panels have greatly shown themselves in all the time of the device. During the first day, the lunohod walked 197 meters, for the second - already half a kilometer .. after 4 months, April 12, difficulties arose: the lunoko got into the crater ... In the end, a risky decision was made - to close the lid with the solar battery and pierced blindly back . But the risk was justified.
A team of "Quantum" was about the same time, the problem of creating a precision system of thermaligulation of increased reliability was solved, which admitted temperature deviations in the room not more than 0.05 degrees. Installation has been successfully operating in Mausolema V.I. Lenin has been over 40 years old. It turned out to be in demand and in a number of other countries.
The most important stage of the activities of N.S. Lidorenko was the creation of energy supply systems of manned orbital stations. In 1973, the first of such stations was introduced into orbit - the Salute station - with huge wings of solar cells. It was an important technical achievement of Quanta specialists. Solar panels were composed of Gallium Arsenide panels. During the operation of the station on the Sun-lit side of the Earth, the excess of electricity was translated into electrical batteries, and this scheme gave the practically inexhaustible energy supply of the spacecraft.
Successful and efficient operation of solar batteries and based on their use of energy supply systems at the Salute stations, "Peace" and other spacecraft confirmed the correctness of the development strategy of space energy proposed by N.S. Lidorenko.
In 1982, for the creation of Space Energy Systems, the Kvant NPP team was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Created by the Kwance team, led by N.S. Lidorenko, power supply sources nourish almost all military and space systems of our country. The development of this collective is called the circulatory system of domestic weapons.
In 1984, Nikolai Stepanovich left the post of chief designer NPO "Kvant". He left the flowering enterprise, which was called the "Empire Lidenko".
N.S. Lidorenko decided to return to the fundamental science. As one of the directions, he decided to use his new way of applied solving the problem of energy conversion. The starting point was the fact that humanity has learned to use only 40% of the energy produced. There are new approaches that allow you to increase the hope to increase the efficiency of the electric power industry by 50% or more. One of the main ideas of N.S. Lidorenko is the possibility and need to search for new fundamental elementary energy sources.
Sources of material: The material is compiled on the basis of data, previously repeatedly published in the press, as well as based on the film "Sun trap" (director - A. Vorobyev, Ether 04/19/1996)
Successful and efficient operation of solar panels and based on the use of energy supply systems of spacecraft - confirmation of the correctness of the development strategy of space energy proposed by N.S. Lidorenko.
Solar Battery on the ISS
Solar battery - several combined photoelectric converters (photoelements) - semiconductor devices, directly converting solar energy into a constant electric current, in contrast to solar collectors producing heating material-coolant.
Various devices that allow converting solar radiation to thermal and electrical energy are an object of the study of helioenergy (from Helios Greek. ΉΛιςς, Helios -). The production of photovoltaic elements and solar collectors is developing in different directions. Solar panels are different sizes: from embedded in microcalculators to car roofs and buildings.
History
The first prototypes of solar batteries were created by the Italian photochemist of Armenian origin of Jacomo Luigi Chamichan.
On April 25, 1954, the specialists of the company Bell Laboratories declared the creation of the first silicon-based solar panels for the electric current. This discovery was produced by three employees of the company - Kelvin Souser Fuller (Calvin Souther Fuller), Daril Chapin (Daryl Chapin) and Gerald Pearson (Gerald Pearson). Already after 4 years, March 17, 1958, the first one with solar batteries was launched in the United States - Vanguard 1. After just a couple of months, on May 15, 1958, satellite-3 was launched in the USSR, also using solar panels.
Use in space
Solar panels are one of the main ways to produce electrical energy on: they work for a long time without the consumption of any materials, and at the same time are environmentally friendly, in contrast to nuclear and.
However, when flying on a large distance from the Sun (behind the orbit), their use becomes problematic, since the stream of solar energy is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the Sun. When flying to and, on the contrary, the power of solar panels increases significantly (in the Venus area 2 times, in the Mercury region is 6 times).
Efficiency of photocells and modules
The power of solar radiation stream at the inlet to the atmosphere (AM0) is about 1366 watts per square meter (see also AM1, AM1.5, AM1.5G, AM1.5D). At the same time, the specific power of solar radiation in Europe in very cloud weather can even be less than 100 W / m². With the help of common industrial solar-produced solar panels, you can convert this energy to electricity with an efficiency of 9-24%. At the same time, the price of the battery will be about 1-3 US dollars per watt of rated power. In industrial electricity generation with the help of photocells, the price per kWh will be 0.25 dollars. According to the European Association of Photovoltaics (EPIA), by 2020 the cost of electricity generated by "sunny" systems will decrease to level less than 0.10 € per kW · h for industrial installations and less than 0.15 € per kWh for installations in residential buildings.
In 2009, Spectrolab (a subsidiary Boeing) demonstrated a solar cell with an efficiency of 41.6%. In January 2011, it was expected to enter the market for solar cells of this company with an efficiency of 39%. In 2011, the California company Solar Junction has achieved a 5.5 × 5.5 mm efficiency of a photo cell of 43.5%, which exceeded the previous record for 1.2%.
In 2012, Morgan Solar has created a SUN SIMBA system from polymethyl methacrylate (plexiglas), Germany and arsenide Gallium, combining the hub with the panel on which a photocell is installed. The efficiency of the system with a fixed position of the panel amounted to 26-30% (depending on the time of year and the angle under which the sun is located), by twice the practical efficiency of photo cells based on crystalline silicon.
In 2013, Sharp has created a three-layer photocell of 4x4 mm in size on an India-gallium-arsenide basis with an efficiency of 44.4%, and a group of specialists from the Institute of Solar Energy Systems of the Fraunhofer Society, Soitec Companies, Cea-Leti and the Berlin Center named after Helmholts created a photocell, Using Fresnel lenses with KPD 44.7%, surpassing its own achievement in 43.6%. In 2014, the Institute of Solar Power Systems Fraungofer has created solar panels, in which, due to the focusing of the light of light on a very small photocell, the efficiency was 46%.
In 2014, Spanish scientists have developed a photovoltaic element of silicon, capable of transforming into electricity infrared radiation of the Sun.
A promising direction is to create photoelers based on nanoantanene, working on direct straightening of currents inspected in an antenna of small sizes (about 200-300 nm) with light (i.e., electromagnetic radiation of the frequency of about 500 THz). Nanoantennes do not require expensive raw materials for production and have potential efficiency up to 85%.
| A type | Coefficient of photovoltaic transformation,% |
|---|---|
| Silicon | |
| Si (crystalline) | 24,7 |
| Si (polycrystalline) | 20,3 |
| Si (thin-film transmission) | 16,6 |
| Si (thin-film submodule) | 10,4 |
| III-V. | |
| GaAs (crystalline) | 25,1 |
| GaAs (thin-film) | 24,5 |
| GaAs (polycrystalline) | 18,2 |
| INP (crystalline) | 21,9 |
| Thin films of chalcogenides | |
| Cigs (photocell) | 19,9 |
| CIGS (submodule) | 16,6 |
| CDTE (photocell) | 16,5 |
| Amorphous / nanocrystalline silicon | |
| Si (amorphous) | 9,5 |
| Si (nanocrystalline) | 10,1 |
| Photochemical | |
| Based on organic dyes | 10,4 |
| Based on organic dyes (submodule) | 7,9 |
| Organic | |
| Organic polymer | 5,15 |
| Multi-layered | |
| GAINP / GAAS / GE | 32,0 |
| Gainp / Gaas. | 30,3 |
| GaAs / CIS (thin-film) | 25,8 |
| a-SI / MC-SI (Slim Submodule) | 11,7 |
Factors affecting the effectiveness of photocells
The features of the structure of the photocells cause a decrease in the performance of the panels with increasing temperature.
From the working characteristics of the photoelectric panel, it can be seen that to achieve the greatest efficiency, the correct selection of the load resistance is required. To do this, the photoelectric panels are not connected directly to the load, and the controller of the controller of photovoltaic systems uses the optimal operating mode of the panels.
Production
Very often, single photo cells do not produce sufficient power. Therefore, a certain amount of photocells is connected to the so-called photoelectric solar modules and strengthening is mounted between glass plates. This assembly can be fully automated.
More than sixty years ago, the era of practical solar power industry began. In 1954, three American scientists presented the world's first solar panels obtained on the basis of silicon. The prospect of obtaining free electricity was realized very quickly, and leading scientific centers of all over the world began to work on the creation of solar power plants. The first "consumer" of solar panels was the space industry. It is here, as anywhere else, they needed renewable energy sources, since the onboard batteries on satellites pretty quickly exhausted their resource.
And in just four years, the solar panels in space were outlined for an indefinite labor watch. In March 1958, the United States launched a satellite with solar panels on board. Less than two months, May 15, 1958, in the Soviet Union, it was removed on an elliptical orbit around the Earth satellite-3 with solar panels on board.
First Domestic Solar Power Plant in Space
Silicon solar panels were installed on the bottom and in the nose of the satellite-3. Such a location made it possible to obtain additional electricity almost continuously, regardless of the position of the satellite in orbit regarding the Sun.
Third artificial satellite. Clearly visible solar battery
On-board batteries have exhausted their resource in 20 days, and on June 3, 1958, most devices installed on the satellite were de-energized. However, the device continued to operate to study the radiation of the Sun, the radio transmitter, sending receiving information, radio beacon to the ground. After depleting onboard batteries, these devices fully moved to power from solar panels. Radiomayak worked practically, until in 1960, the satellite was burned in the Earth's atmosphere.
Development of domestic cosmic photoergreen
On the energy supply of spacecraft, designers have thought about the design of the very first launch vehicles. After all, in the space of the battery, it is not replaced, it means that the term of the active service of the spacecraft is due only to the capacity of onboard batteries. The first and second artificial satellites of the Earth were equipped with only onboard batteries that were depleted in a few weeks of work. Starting from the third satellite, all subsequent spacecraft were equipped with solar panels.
The main developer and manufacturer of space solar power plants was the Scientific and Production Enterprise Kvant. Solar panels "Quantum" are installed almost on all domestic spacecraft. Initially, these were silicon solar panels. Their power was limited both as specified sizes and weighing. But then the "quanta" scientists have developed and manufactured the world's first solar panels based on a completely new semiconductor - Galliya Arsenide (GAAS).
In addition, absolutely new helium panels were launched into production, which did not have analogues in the world. This novelty was highly efficient helium panels on a substrate having a mesh or string structure.
Helium panels with mesh and string substrate
Especially for installation on low-orbit spacecraft, silicon helical gel panels with two-sided sensitivity were designed and manufactured. For example, for the Russian segment of the International Space Station (the Space Agency "Star") were made of a silicon-based panel with bilateral sensitivity, and the area of \u200b\u200bone panel was 72 m².
Solar Battery Space Apparatus "Star"
Were also developed on the basis of amorphous silicon and launched flexible solar panels, having excellent specific weight characteristics: with weight of only 400 g / m², these batteries produced electricity with an indicator of 220 W / kg.
Flexible helium battery based on amorphous silicon
In order to increase the efficiency of solar cells, ground research and tests were carried out in a large volume, which revealed negative impacts of a large space on helium panels. This made it possible to proceed to the manufacture of solar panels for spacecraft of various types with a deck of active work up to 15 years.
Space devices mission "Venus"
In November 1965, with an interval of four days to our nearest neighbor - Venus - two spacecraft started - "Venus-2" and "Venus-3". These were two absolutely identical cosmic probe, the main task of which was landing in Venus. On both spacecraft, solar panels based on Gallii arsenide, which have proven themselves on previous near-earth devices. During the flight, all the equipment of both probes worked smoothly. With the Venera-2 station, 26 communication sessions were conducted, with the Venera-3 station ─ 63. Thus, the highest reliability of solar batteries of this type was confirmed.
Because of the failures of the control instrument, there was a link with "Venero-2", but the Vena-3 station continued its way. At the end of December 1965, a trajectory correction was performed on the team, and on March 1, 1966 the station reached Venus.
The data obtained as a result of the flight of these two stations was taken into account when preparing a new mission, and in June 1967 a new venera-4 automatic station was launched. Just like the two predecessors, it was equipped with arsenide gallium solar batteries with a total area of \u200b\u200b2.4 m². These batteries supported the work of almost all equipment.
Station "Vena-4". Below - descended device
On October 18, 1967, after separating the descent apparatus and entering it into the atmosphere, Venus station continued its work in orbit, including the role of the repeater of signals from the radio transmitter of the descent apparatus to the Earth.
Space devices mission "Moon"
Sunny batteries on the basis of Arsenide Gallium were "Lunohod-1" and "Lunohod-2". Solar panels of both devices were mounted on folding covers and served as faithfully the entire service life. Moreover, on the "lunohoda-1", the program and resource of which were designed for the month of work, the batteries worked for three months, three times more planned deadlines.
"Lunohod-2" worked on the surface of the moon just over four months, passing the way 37 kilometers. He could still work if not overheating the equipment. The device fell into a fresh crater with loose soil. Long stopped, but in the end it was able to get out at rear gear. When he was chosen from the pit, a small amount of soil fell on the lid with sunbaths. To maintain the specified thermal regime, the fused solar panels went down to the top coating of the hardware compartment. After leaving the crater, when the cover is closed, the ground came out of it on the hardware compartment, becoming a kind of heat insulator. In the afternoon, the temperature rose above hundreds of degrees, the equipment could not stand and out of order.
Modern solar panels made using the most modern nanotechnology using new semiconductor materials made it possible to achieve efficiency up to 35% with a significant reduction in weight. And these new helium panels faithfully serve on all devices sent both to near-earth orbits and in long-distance space.
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