Newport & Cardiff Materials Society (NCMS)

Solar Power from Space: Materials Challenges and Opportunities for the Next Energy Frontier
Dr Dan Lamb, Research Lead at the Oxide and Chalcogenide MOCVD Centre, Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials, Swansea University.
Tuesday 5th May, 2026 at 18:00
Room T2.09, Trevithick Building, Cardiff University, 5 The Parade, Cardiff, CF24 3AA
If you would like to join Dan Lamb's lecture online, please register using this link
events.teams.microsoft.com/event/e26cc935-4803-4cc0-9339-480ebebf5dbd@bdb74b30-9568-4856-bdbf-06759778fcbc

Please note that it is necessary to pay for parking, instructions are displayed on signs in the car park.

Abstract: With global energy demand set to rise by nearly 50% by 2050, and only 30% of today’s electricity coming from renewables, new solutions are urgently needed. Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) offers a compelling alternative: clean, continuous energy generated in geostationary orbit and wirelessly transmitted to Earth. A single 3 GW SBSP satellite could power 1 million homes and cut carbon emissions by billions of tonnes annually. This lecture will explore SBSP’s potential in global decarbonization efforts and introduce emerging photovoltaic (PV) technologies suited for the unique challenges of space. I will share recent work from Swansea University, where we’ve pioneered cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV deposited directly onto ultrathin space glass. Our team’s successful CubeSat mission has been transmitting data since 2016—the first of its kind for CdTe. We’ll also examine new performance requirements, deposition challenges, and the space-specific testing needed for future PV materials and missions.

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