SolarWhite
Inorganic solar reflector coating
SolarWhite is ENBIO’s white thermal control coating with minimal absorption. It has been qualified for ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission and the European NeoSat sat-com fleet of geostationary satellites.
It is inorganic and has the durability and thermal stability that this entails. The coating is applied at room temperature and is suitable for aluminium, titanium, stainless steel, and a wide range of other substrates. SolarWhite’s absorption and emission values are highly stable; the coating is resistant to contamination, and no out-gassing occurs at high temperature.
Key Features
Inorganic
Fully inorganic binder and pigment composition for enhanced stability of thermo-optical properties in the space environment.
Stable Thermo-Optical Properties
Fully inorganic binder and pigment composition leads to exceptionally stable thermo-optical properties in the space environment.
Wide Temperature Range
Stable to high temperatures (> 500 °C), and repeated thermal cycling (−180 °C to +180 °C)
Static Dissipative
Engineered to be electrostatically dissipative to prevent damaging static discharges in the space environment.
Rapid Cure Time
Following coating application the coated hardware is ready to ship in 2–3 days.
Non-Porous
Non-porous formulation makes the SolarWhite coating non-susceptible to absorption of contaminants
Cleanable and Robust to AIT
As a corollary of its non-porous nature, SolarWhite may be cleaned. Its ceramic-like texture makes it robust with respect to AIT activities.
Thickness
Tailorable between 150 μm-220 μm
Higher thicknesses yields a lower solar absorptance
Solar Reflectance
Typical 0.15–0.18 at BOL
Lower with higher coating thickness
Thermal Emittance
~0.89–0.90 at BOL and EOL
Substrate Materials
SolarWhite is compatible with a wide range of substrates, including:
Aluminium alloys:
- Al2024
- Al5051
- Al6082
- Al7075
- Numerous other aluminium alloys
Titanium alloys:
- Titanium grade 2
- Titanium grade 5
- Other titanium alloys
Ferrous Alloys:
- Stainless steel 303
- Stainless steel 316
Other metallic alloys:
- Beryllium
3D Printing Alloys:
- Scalmalloy®
Listed above is a subset of the substrate materials that have been successfully used with SolarWhite.
SolarWhite is compatible with corrosition inhibiting primers such as
- Alodine 1200
- SurTec 650
Contact us for a full list of compatible materials.
Technology Readiness Level
TRL 9
Heritage
- KoreaSat CNES THERME (LEO)
- ESA Solar Orbiter (Sun approach)
- UCD EIRSAT-1 (LEO)
- Other commercial satellite platforms
Qualifications
- ESA Solar Orbiter (interplanetary)
- ESA/LSI NeoSat GEO satellite fleet (GEO)
- UCD/ESA EIRSAT-1 satellite (LEO)
- Thales Copernicus CO2M
- Other commercial satellite platforms