Flexible High-Efficiency Space Solar Arrays

Flexell develops flexible, rollable solar array panels using thin-film photovoltaic technology for satellite power systems. The company’s approach applies flexible photovoltaic cell technology — thin multi-junction solar cells deposited on flexible polymer substrates — to create solar arrays that can be rolled or folded to very compact stowed volumes and deployed to large area panels in orbit.

Conventional rigid solar panels using silicon or III-V cells mounted on aluminum substrates have high stiffness-per-unit-area but require complex and failure-prone hinged panels to achieve large deployment areas. Flexible roll-out or fold-out solar arrays achieve 4–8× higher specific power (watts per kilogram) compared to rigid panels by eliminating the heavy substrate and support structure — critical for mass-constrained smallsat and constellation satellite platforms.

Flexell’s thin-film solar cells use copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) or organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology, achieving 18–25% conversion efficiency at a fraction of the weight of conventional space solar cells. Applications include smallsat power systems where the ultra-lightweight design enables larger power budgets without proportional mass increase, and high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) aircraft where lightweight continuous solar power is essential for indefinite flight.