Company

1950s – First in Space PV

Spectrolab was established in 1956, when local entrepreneur Alfred Mann brought together a group of engineers to provide high-quality optical filters and mirrors for use in government contracts. Spectrolab established its credibility in the space industry with Pioneer 1, in 1958, carrying the company's first body-mounted solar panels; Explorer 6, the satellite that in 1959 provided the first photograph of Earth from space, supplied with Spectrolab's first solar arrays; the Syncom satellite, the first satellite placed in geosynchronous Earth orbit; and the historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969, which included the installation of the first solar panel on the moon.  Since those early days, Spectrolab has been the world’s leading supplier of space photovoltaic solar cells and panels.

1960s – Solar Simulators are Born

Early in the development of space solar cell technology, Spectrolab recognized an industry need to test solar cells and other devices in well-controlled conditions simulating those found in space. In 1962, the company designed and began manufacturing both steady-state and pulsed solar simulators, which have since become an industry standard. Spectrolab then turned the light sources used to simulate the sun into an innovative searchlight product line. In 1969, Bell Helicopter became the first customer for Spectrolab's first Nightsun® searchlight. At 30-million candlepower, the Nightsun® is the world's most powerful airborne searchlight and is used by many military, maritime and search and rescue organizations, including the British Ministry of Defense, which uses the Nightsun® exclusively.

1970s -1990s – Transitioning to High Volume Multijunction Production

As the demand for more powerful, more efficient, and more capable satellites increased in the 1970s and 1980s, Spectrolab developed increasingly more powerful solar cells, progressing from 12% conversion efficiency of early silicon solar cell to greater than 30% today using state-of-the-art multijunction solar cells.  Once these GaAs-based solar cells were successfully demonstrated in space, and the path toward a successful multijunction technology was established, Spectrolab completely retooled its factory to produce multijunction cells. Today Spectrolab has the ability to produce nearly 500,000W (more than 30 high power satellites) per year with state-of-the-art multijunction solar cells and panels. In 1993, the company installed the world's most advanced MOVPE (metal organic vapor phase epitaxy) materials growth reactors as part of a high-capacity gallium arsenide solar cell production line, and has since largely replaced much this fleet, in 2009, with the latest generation technology. 

During these years Spectrolab also instituted state-of-the-art process control tools such as Six Sigma and DoE and created Work Center Teams to focus engineering, manufacturing, and equipment expertise on each process step.

As the primary multijunction solar cell and panel supplier to nearly all world’s prime satellite contractors, including Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems ( formerly Hughes Space and Communications Company, Spectrolab products have powered more than 500 successful space missions, including the International Space Station, and numerous interplanetary missions to Mars and to Venus, to U.S. military defense programs, and to cost conscious commercial applications such as for broadcasting and telephony.

Today

In 2009, Spectrolab set a new world record for terrestrial concentrator solar cell efficiency, demonstrating 41.6 percent of concentrated sunlight into electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., independently verified this record setting performance.  This accomplishment followed R&D Magazine’s 2001 Award for the most significant technologies.

In space PV, Spectrolab launched its latest generation triple junction solar cell, XTJ, with a conversion efficiency of 30% on orbit, and achieved a significant milestone by demonstrating 33% efficiency on an innovative solar cell materials structure known as Inverted Metamorphic (IMM) under a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory program.  Additionally, Spectrolab recently completed shipments of more than 100 space solar panels outfitted with the largest – and cost competitive – multijunction cells at 60cm2 in size.

Spectrolab in partnership with Boeing Missile Defense Systems in Albuquerque, NM developed a compact 3-dimensional (3D) imaging camera for UAV imaging applications.

Spectrolab has demonstrated an average of 98% on time delivery to our customers and provided consistent quarterly earnings to Boeing since our acquisition.

In 2008, Spectrolab is selected for the 2008 California Space Authority (CSA) SpotBeam Award for space innovation. The CSA SpotBeam Award recognizes California space stakeholders who make extraordinary contributions to California’s leadership in the U.S. and internal space arenas.

In 2007, Spectrolab receives R&D 100 Award by producing a photovoltaic (PV) cell with a conversion efficiency of 40.7%.

Since 2006, Spectrolab has successfully applied Toyota’s LEAN Manufacturing initiative to streamline factory operations and eliminate unproductive time and materials.  The result of this effort is a clean and highly functional production line, clear and consistent procedures for technicians, and lower costs for our customers.

In 2004, Spectrolab enjoyed both NASA’s highest supplier quality award, the George M. Low, for work accomplished on the tremendously successful Mars Explorer Rover mission, and inductions of four Spectrolab engineers to its Space Hall of Fame for our multijunction solar cell technology development.

In 2001, Spectrolab receives the R&D 100 Award for developing a world-record 33x efficiency terrestrial concentrator solar cell.

In 2000, Spectrolab was purchased by the Boeing Company.  Spectrolab currently employs approximately 450 employees and still resides on the original site in California’s San Fernando Valley.