The event was held in Milan on May 9th Solar cells, energy for space in CESI (Italian Experimental Electrotechnical Center) in the presence of Teodoro Valente, president of the Italian space agency (ASI), Roberto Vittori, Italian astronaut, Massimo Comparini, CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italy, and Domenico Villani, CEO of CESI SpA. Spotlight turned on memorandum of understanding signed in July by CESI And ASI with the aim of enhancing, with the support of the funds of Pnrr (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), the production of suitable modern solar cells to the new frontiers of satellite and space exploration market. Thinner, lighter, more flexible, more efficient and economical, the new cells represent an important step forward. When it comes to aerospace applications, cell efficiency is fundamental: just think that even an increase of 1 percent could make the difference between the success and failure of a mission, as highlighted by Comparini.
The plan will bring 13 million euros serving the supply chain of the multinational company based in Milan and will structure a fifteen-year public-private partnership project for the satellite systems and assets that will be produced in cooperation. And when we talk about solar cells we cannot fail to mention CESI, i data are incontrovertible: the company has already produced over 200,000 of these cells that power over 100 satellites. A path that began in the nineties and continued through innovation and research: in short, it is a real guarantee in the midst of the space economy boom.
L'Italy plays a leading role in space sector, such as in the launcher sector or in-orbit services sector. Made up of a combination of germanium, gallium arsenide and indium-gallium-phosphide, the solar cells designed and produced by CESI represent a example of innovation and guarantee in terms of efficiency and adaptability. Today's standard triple-junction space cells have a typical efficiency of 30 percent and are suitable for both low-Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary orbit (GEO) missions. But the progress will allow a further leap in quality, yet another: the next ones – with four junctions and the thickness of a hair – could reach an efficiency of 35 percent. Numbers worthy of note if you consider that a standard terrestrial solar cell has 15 percent efficiency.
THE new investments are aimed at increasing the production capacity of solar cells for space satellites and above all at modernizing production processes through digitalization and implementation of advanced monitoring technologies. «CESI's pride for more than thirty years: we are the first group in Europe to have flown solar cells into space»the words full of satisfaction from the CEO and owner of the house Domenico Villani: «This expertise has made the Group one of the main international suppliers of space solar cells».
Great ambition, certified by the results. It is therefore natural to think as big as he does astronaut Vittoriwho hypothesized the use of solar cells on new spacesuits, which are already used for electrostimulation of the body, in view of missions to the Moon and, in the future, to Mars.
Thanks also to the visionary and skills of CESI, Italy occupies a front row seat in the global space supply chain.