The abundance of sunlight makes solar cells a preferred source of electricity in outer space, but the harsh conditions also can cause solar cells to degrade. Supported by the United States Space Force, UNT is part of a multi-institutional team contributing to a new type of solar cell that is lower cost and capable of enduring longer in space.

For UNT's part, physics professor Bibhudutta Rout and his students are conducting vital radiation ground testing in UNT's Ion Beam Laboratory -- the only university facility in the nation capable of performing elemental and ion-induced charge mapping in electronics materials and devices at a sub-micrometer scale.

"Developing a new generation of solar cells will offer a more sustainable power source and open new opportunities of discovery in space," Rout says.