The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory will invest in a technique developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to bring spacefaring solar technology down to Earth. Known as III-V solar cells – so named because of where the materials fall on the periodic table – the technology is extremely efficient but too expensive for terrestrial use. Instead, they are commonly used to power satellites in Earth’s orbit and many of NASA’s missions to Mars and other planets. Researchers at NREL...