January 16, 2004—NASA and SunPower Corporation, a silicon solar cell performance provider, has completed the installation of a 5-kilowatt solar electric power system at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, located at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
The system is the first to incorporate SunPowers 20% efficient A-300 solar cells, which are a significant improvement over currently available cells in the 12%-15% range. Higher-efficiency cells provide solar power systems with more power per unit area and can provide users with significant cost savings.
SunPower, a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp, has a history of collaboration with NASA. NASA used SunPower solar cells in its Helios solar-powered aircraft, which set an altitude record of 96,863 feet in 2001. The SunPower system at NASA Dryden will provide clean electricity while helping to educate visitors about renewable energy.
Unlike conventional solar cells, SunPowers A-300 incorporates all electrical contacts on the back surface. This architecture allows for significantly higher conversion efficiency of light to electricity, and also eliminates unsightly reflective front-side contacts. With rated efficiency over 20%, the A-300 can deliver up to 50% more energy from a given roof area compared with traditional solar products.
