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I've googled a bit and can't seem to find the information so I thought I'd ask here.
What kind of limits do solar panels have, regarding how close to the sun can we put them?
At 0.1AU the solar constant is approx. 137200 W/m2 which is a hundred times the energy as we get here on Earth. But can solar panels take that kind of energy in, even if we get that close? Or are they limited by some kind of maximum intake?
Also, something that close will heat up quite significantly. Are there solar panels that can stand being heated up to hundreds of degrees, or will putting stuff that close to the sun effectively burn them to a crisp?
Some unmanned space craft have used solar gravity assists. How close to the sun did they get and how did their solar panels function during the close approaches?
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Using concentrating optics to get 500 suns on high end cells is routine. Current research is trying for 1000 suns. Keeping everything cool is the limiting factor. Apparently, you shorten the life of most cells over 250 suns.
Fan of [url=http://www.red-oasis.com/]Red Oasis[/url]
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