Preparation of enabling space technologies and building blocks: Low Cost Solar Panel Assembly

The Low-Cost Solar Panel Assembly GSTP Project has the high-level objective of increasing the European TRL level for innovative, high power to volume ratio, versatile, low-cost solar arrays, in this way contributing to cover the gap in this area with US manufacturers and to improve Europe global competitiveness. This new generation of solar power systems are also key to electrical-propelled missions in the whole range of orbits of interestThe LCSPA innovative approach to the PVA architecture and production is attempted to face the challenging requirements. LCSPA design is based on a ‘flexible-rigid’ panel concept, where, ‘Flexible-rigid’ refers to the fact that the PVA is made by several parallel rigid segments mounted on a blanket, which provides the structural connection between them and the connection to the LCSPA deployment system. The PVA, which, using a nautical term, is called ‘sail’ can be packed in a concertina-fold stack of segments held together in a compact and solid ‘block’ which can sustain the launch loads.