Japanese petroleum firm Idemitsu Kosan has established its first US-based development laboratory for space-grade copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells.
The laboratory will be located at OASIS, a 105,000-square-foot innovation hub operated by the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
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According to UCSB, OASIS bridges the gap between research and scalable manufacturing that enables a rapid translation of critical technologies for applications in aerospace, energy and other areas.
Idemitsu said that the location of OASIS provides an “advantageous environment for technical discussions with customers and industry partners”. The Japanese firm aims to position the laboratory as its US hub for technology development and customer engagement in the US market.
Moreover, it targets to rapidly conduct prototyping and evaluations of space-grade CIGS solar cells based on identified market needs and technical requirements. The insights gained from the US market will be fed back to Idemitsu’s research and development (R&D) activities and incorporated into product development and mass-production technology development in Japan.
According to the company, these initiatives aim to accelerate the commercialisation of space-grade CIGS solar cells. It is currently advancing in the development of a bench-scale demonstration manufacturing plant in Japan aimed at establishing mass-production technologies by 2027.
Once the bench manufacturing plant is launched, the company will assess the introduction of full-scale mass-production facilities based on market conditions and the progress of technology development.
The Japanese company continues to accelerate its research in space solar cells, after it installed one of its CIGS solar cells in the Japanese cargo spacecraft HTV-X1 operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which was launched in October 2025.
The opening of a lab for CIGS space solar cells from Idemitsu comes only days after the US Department of Energy launched a US$12 million R&D fund to support projects that will lower the cost and expand domestic manufacturing of solar panels for use in space.
Space-based solar power will be a topic of conversation at this year’s PV CellTech USA conference in San Francisco on 13-14 October. For full agenda and booking details, click the link above.
