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Solar
panels? That's right! Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity.
They do this without pollution, noise, or moving parts. They rely on the photovoltaic
effect to absorb the energy of the sun and cause current to flow between two
oppositely charge layers. They are commonly used on spacecraft bound for Earth
orbit or the inner solar system, where solar energy is strong enough to be
a practical power source.
Ready for STARDUST's next engineering challenge?
| Spacecraft images copyright 1996-97, California Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Further reproduction prohibited. |