Yanhe Solar, a Chinese thin-film perovskite solar manufacturer, has announced that it has finalized the prototype of "Nebula," its flexible perovskite solar wing for satellite power systems, built for compact stowage and passive deployment in orbit. The prototype is built on a 0.1 mm fully flexible polyimide substrate with an integrated roll-up design that allows it to be stowed to roughly the diameter of a thermos flask during launch, then unfurled once the satellite reaches orbit.
Yanhe Solar’s ‘Nebula’ flexible roll-up space solar wing engineering prototype can be stowed to the diameter of a thermos flask during launch and deployed via a passive mechanism once in orbit. Image credit: Yanhe Solar
Compared with conventional rigid or semi-flexible solar wing designs, the Nebula prototype reduces weight by 25% to 30% and achieves a 35-fold stowage ratio, addressing two of the main constraints on solar power generation capacity for small and mid-sized satellites, where launch volume and mass budgets are tightly limited. The passive deployment mechanism removes the need for additional actuators or motors to unfold the array once in orbit.
The milestone follows earlier testing reported this year, in which Yanhe Solar's tandem perovskite modules passed simulated extreme space environment testing conducted by satellite manufacturers, including China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
Alongside the prototype, Yanhe Solar outlined a "2030 Space Power Station Plan," under which the company intends to advance core technology development and large-scale networking of low-Earth-orbit computing power stations in phases between 2026 and 2030, followed by full-scale engineering construction from 2030 onward, including lunar power stations.
