The University of Malaga, through the Materials and Surfaces Laboratory, participates in an international consortium that has received one of the eight grants ‘Horizon EIC Pathfinder Challenges - In-space solar energy harvesting for innovative space applications’ that have been awarded this year at European level, with the aim of achieving significant advances in the fields of in-space solar energy collection and transmission and the new concepts of propulsion that will be used by the energy obtained.

Coordinated by the University of Lund (Sweden), the ‘ZEUS’ -Zero-loss energy harvesting using nanowire solar cells in space- project has been granted almost €4 million (€3,998,622.50) for its development over the next four years. The other participants that, together with the UMA, make up this project are the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Germany), the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Technological Institute of Packaging, Transport and Logistics.

An innovative, radiation-resistant photovoltaic technology
Specifically, ‘ZEUS’ will focus on advancing the development of nanowire solar cells, a highly innovative, radiation-resistant photovoltaic technology capable of absorbing solar energy in space, where the environment is highly aggressive.
Nanowires are needle-shaped structures with a diameter of 200 nanometers –that is, a thousand times thinner than human hair–, explains Enrique Barrigón, Professor of the Department of Applied Physics I, the researcher who will lead this project at the UMA. Their nanometric scale and careful geometric distribution make them behave as “hollow” devices from the point of view of radiation damage, which significantly increases their resistance to radiation, while effectively collecting nearly one hundred percent of the possible incoming light, due to the improved optical absorption that occurs in these cells.
“Covering approximately 10 percent of a surface with active material is all that is needed to absorb as much light as a thin layer covering the entire surface of the same material would do,” says the UMA researcher.

Greater efficiency
In this respect, Enrique Barrigón explains that while current space-tested nanowire solar cells offer around 15% efficiency, ZEUS aims to significantly enhance this efficiency by employing triple junction nanowire cells with a carefully selected set of III-V semiconductor materials, potentially reaching 47% theoretical efficiency.
Likewise, this project will investigate the transfer of these solar cells onto lightweight, flexible substrates, which would enable the creation of large deployable photovoltaic panels.

Environmental sustainability
Additionally, the project underscores its commitment to sustainability by focusing on two key aspects: decarbonization and the efficient use of critical raw materials. “ZEUS aims to demonstrate not only the commercial potential of the technology, but also the environmental benefits by means of a life cycle assessment of nanowire solar cells, particularly for space energy generation”, says Professor Enrique Barrigón. Thus, increasing the electrical power of communications satellites is one of its possible applications, among others.
The main tasks of the University of Malaga in this international research will be the advanced characterization of these solar cells and the execution of the necessary tests to evaluate their resistance in the space environment.

Revolutionary technology
The Horizon EIC Pathfinder Challenges program awards grants to projects that explore new technological areas, especially ‘deep-tech’ –based on a scientific discovery or a significant engineering innovation– which may become radically innovative technologies in the future, capable of creating new market opportunities. The overall goal is to feed the innovation market with revolutionary technologies and get them to the proof-of-concept stage.

So far, within the current Horizon Europe framework, the University of Malaga has another project of this same program. This is ‘BioRobot-MiniHeart’, whose principal researcher is Juan Antonio Guadix, from the Department of Animal Biology. In the previous H2020 program, another proposal from the UMA was also recognized: ‘SONICOM’ -Transforming auditory-based social interaction and communication in AR/VR-, by Professor Arcadio Reyes, Department of Electronic Technology.

This project has been funded through the European Union Research and Innovation Program, Horizon Europe, with Grant Agreement 101161465.

"Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”