DARPA-SN-25-78

DARPA-SN-25-78

Graphene leaf fractal design, direct energy collection

Projected leaf/vein graphene growth

Synthetic biology grown leaf/vein graphene

direct energy capture

high-power direct energy conversion of nuclear radiation into electricity

Whisk Experiment

high-fluence-resilient, radiation-hardened, charge-carrying materials and techniques that specifically apply to radiovoltaics

proof-of-concept radiovoltaic unit cell that could be scalable to a high-power form factor

https://www.energy.gov/femp/severe-weather-resilience-solar-photovoltaic-system-design

silicon photovoltaics.

Sphere enclosure to capture energy https://blogbarley.blogspot.com/2025/05/fusion-torus-stack.html

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SolAero Technologies Corp. by Rocket Lab USA, Inc. 

https://rocketlabcorp.com/space-systems/solar/space-solar-cellscics/

Pulled from datasheets:

Radiation hardened design

Solar cell lattice matched  on germanium substrate

ZTJ cell optimized for LEO missions in environments dominated primarily by charged protons

...

Germanium Melting point 1211.40 K ​(938.25 °C, ​1720.85 °F)

Germanium Boiling point 3106 K ​(2833 °C, ​5131 °F)

Carbon Sublimes at 3825°C, 6917°F, 4098 K 

 Silicon Melting point 2,577°F (1,414°C)

Nanowire Solar Cells: A New Radiation Hard PV Technology for Space Applications https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8977473

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