Every ninety-five minutes an object the size of a bus circles Earth. It represents an unparalleled achievement in space observation technology and is called the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Since its deployment in 1990, the HST has brought images to the astronomy community that traditionally had been reserved for expensive long-range space missions by unmanned craft. One of the essential technological developments that make the HST such an attractive investment is its use of one "natural resource" found in space, the sun. The HST utilizes photovoltaic technology to capture the sun's rays and convert them directly into electricity. This procedure is commonly referred to active solar generation.

Active solar generation is nothing new to the space industry. Photovoltaics have been used to power satellites since the late 1950s and are an essential element to the...