Industry - Aerospace
Accurate and Tunable Solar Simulation for the Aerospace Industry
Remove uncertainty before launch.
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Industry - Aerospace
Remove uncertainty before launch.
You’re reaching for the stars. We’ll provide the sun.
Good enough, isn’t enough when it comes to taking your aerospace projects from Earth to millions or billions of miles away. This is why you test, test, and test some more to prevent mission failure. Testing ranges from novel material for radiation-hardened space travel, part of an attitude and orbit control subsystem (AOCS), or part of a satellite’s solar battery.
Your testing aims for perfection. Good enough isn’t part of your vocabulary.
With everything on the line, you need perfection. You require the most accurate and precise lights for your ground testing. Your light needs to be able to adapt to the unknown of aerospace conditions and can’t be less than the best.
That lighting solution to move the needle to mission success is here.
At G2V, we’ve created Class AAA LED solar simulators to provide the precision, tuneability, and flexibility you need to get the right results. Every time.
Featured Innovations
There are enough variables to confound your results. Our solar simulator’s light is one you don’t need to worry about.
Aerospace technologies need to test a variety of facets beyond light responsivity and degradation. The Pico small-area Class AAA solar simulator has a small form factor so you can integrate solar simulation with your glove box or weather chamber, and do the cross-functional testing you need as part of validation and ground testing.
Get a solution that can grow with aerospace testing requirements.
Your aerospace applications require robust and repeatable ground testing to be confident in a successful launch. Anything less puts your mission at risk. The Sunbrick large-area Class AAA solar simulator has a tileable design allowing you to scale and test to any size without sacrificing quality.
Get a solution that can grow with aerospace testing requirements.
Featured Innovation
Aerospace requires the power of scalability without sacrificing quality. Your testing takes you from small-scale instruments to full-sized panels. This flexibility must have a light that is perfect.
The G2V Class AAA LED Sunbrick is that perfect light. It produces light in a wide spectral range and is built with a configurable array construction to scale to the size you need, without sacrificing quality.
Some of its features include:
Your innovations explore space. Let the Sunbrick light the way.
Aerospace parts are becoming lighter and more efficient, coupled with more stringent testing methods. From guidance systems, to cameras, to the solar panels that run them; high-quality light is required to ensure findings are repeatable and accurate in order to simulate real-world conditions.
This is where tunable Class AAA solar simulators come into play.
Take your testing to the next level in all areas of aerospace with Class AAA LED solar simulator.
Problem: The OSAM-1 Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Center needed highly controllable, precise light to ground test mission spacecraft on the ground in the same conditions it would experience in flight.
Innovation: G2V was contracted to provide custom research-grade lighting to replicate the precise conditions required for this project.
Outcome: The OSAM-1 Project was cancelled on March 1, 2024.
While we may not see our array in use orbiting around the Earth, we enjoyed the experience of working with the team at NASA on another project.
Our maximum spectral range is currently from 350 nm to 1450 nm. While there are some LEDs that reach higher and lower wavelengths, their performance and cost are not quite at the level needed for a robust and competitive solar simulator solution. G2V is always monitoring LED material developments, however, so if a wider spectral range is needed for your application, get in touch and we can discuss the possibility of a custom solution, or the inclusion of such a solution in our product roadmap.
At this point in time we are unable to offer EQE measurements with the sunbrick, but can provide IV measurement capability through a Keithly bundle for our Sunbrick. Reach out to one of our experts if you would like to know more about the Keithly bundle option If you require both IV and EQE, our Class AAA Pico product can meet your small-area needs. Check out The Pico to learn more.
The Sunbrick and the directed Pico models produce light with an angular full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of approximately 20 to 30 degrees. The Lambertian Pico produces light with a Lambertian angular distribution. Come explore our Angle of Emission Article for additional information.
We produce a Class A spectral match with <5% spectral mismatch for AM0.
Our solar simulators offer the ability to tune every LED channel (up to 32 channels in the Pico, and up to 36 channels in the Sunbrick), giving you the ability to probe the spectral responsivity via many different types of LEDs. The resolution of this tunability is ultimately determined by the available LEDs in a given product — get in touch if you would like an exact list to compare against your multi-junction responsivity functions.
With our off-the-shelf stands, the solar simulators cannot be tilted. The Pico’s smaller size makes it much easier to tilt via standard optomechanical mounts from THORLABS and Edmund Optics. The Sunbrick’s larger form factor would require a custom stand to facilitate tilting.
No, our solar simulator is not designed for vacuum. Our solar simulators have not been designed for long working distances without a large sacrifice in power and uniformity, so beaming the light into a chamber for long distances is not currently viable.
We provide Python APIs for both the Pico and Sunbrick, which allow the solar simulators to be automated via Python scripts. For the Sunbrick, we also have a LabView DLL that can be used for automation.
Knowledge Base
We ensure that our customers have access to resources that help them understand how class AAA solar simulators are pushing what’s possible in research and applications in industries ranging from Aerospace to material testing. Visit the knowledge base to learn more about the Solar Simulation Field, Class AAA standards, Pricing a Solar Simulator, and much more.
Solar Simulation
Today’s testing is the foundation for the future’s success. No matter your task, you deserve the information you need, right when you need it.
Our experts are here to shine a light on any questions you might have in order to expedite your application’s outcomes when it comes to solar simulation and testing of your critical components.
Let’s talk about your needs and clear up any confusion that may be slowing down your projects.
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