Boeing boosts solar panel production
Boeing unveiled a new 3D-printed solar panel substrate that reduces composite manufacturing time by up to six months in solar panel wing programs. The breakthrough enables up to a 50% improvement in production compared to traditional cycle times.
The test hardware passed engineering evaluations and advanced through the company's standard qualification process prior to its incorporation into future space missions.
Michelle Parker, vice president of Boeing Space Mission Systems, explained that power sets the pace for a mission and that the company drove efficiencies and new technologies to accelerate production.
“The integration of Boeing's additive manufacturing expertise with Spectrolab's high-efficiency solar technology and Millennium's production line enables us to turn speed into a strategic capability that helps customers deploy satellite constellations in less time,” Parker said.
The first solar panels manufactured with this technology will integrate Spectrolab solar cells into small satellites developed by Millennium Space Systems. Both companies are part of Boeing's Space Mission Systems organization.
The new method allows complete panels to be built in parallel, combining a rigid 3D-printed substrate with modular solar technologies that have already been flight-validated. Printing elements such as harness routes and attachment points on each panel eliminates dozens of separate parts and joining processes, resulting in structures that are faster to produce and integrate.
Melissa Orme, vice president of Materials and Structures at Boeing Technology Innovation, said that additive manufacturing not only reduces time and costs, but also increases performance.
She noted that the use of qualified materials, along with a common digital thread and high-speed production processes, facilitates lighter designs, new configurations, and the ability to replicate results across different programs.
Boeing's portfolio already includes more than 150,000 parts manufactured using 3D printing. These include more than 1,000 radio frequency parts installed on each Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite in production, as well as complete structures on different lines of small satellites.
The company designed the new panel approach to accommodate satellites of various sizes, from small ones to Boeing 702-class platforms. The goal is to have the technology available on the market by 2026, with a process that integrates parallel assembly of panels and solar cells, robotic assistance, and automated inspection systems to ensure speed and consistency.
