Self-unfolding solar cells are on the way T. Chen et al., Phys. Rev. Applied (2019)
A special type of plastic can make folded solar panels unfold on their own when exposed to sunlight. This might be helpful for the solar panels that power some spacecraft, which have to be launched in a small container and unfurled once they get into orbit.
Those types of solar panels are generally unfolded by some sort of external controller, whether that’s a mechanical system, like a coiled spring that is released, or a small motor. Chiara Daraio at the California Institute of Technology and…
