According to reports by the Ural Federal University (UrFU), a consortium of universities in Russia has won a grant to create solar panels that could work in space for at least 20 years.
The work will be carried out in 2024-2026. The total amount of financing will be about 300 million rubles (over USD$3,300,000). The purpose of the grant is to create solar panels capable of operating in conditions of cosmic radiation, with a high efficiency and energy efficiency.
"Colleagues in Moscow will work on the creation of new materials and plastic-based perovskite modules, as well as on the creation of batteries. Our task is to investigate the radiation resistance of both batteries and accumulators in relation to different types of radiation," said Ivan Zhidkov, head of the UrFU Photovoltaic Materials Laboratory.
Within the framework of the project, it is planned, in particular, to test solar panels as part of a small satellite.
