Galileo infographic: 'Powered by the Sun'

Powered by the Sun: All this functionality is powered by twin 1 x 5-m-long solar wings, supplying about supply 1.9 kilowatts of power – about the same as an average European household’s consumption. Mounted onto these panels are more than 2500 state-of-the-art gallium arsenide solar cells, ‘triple junction’ in design – meaning they are composed of three successive optimized for different frequencies of sunlight. On top of the solar cells is a protective glass layer, otherwise the cells would be eaten away by the space environment in a matter of months. Two ‘Solar array drive mechanisms’ slowly rotate the solar wings to keep them pointed Sunward at all times, steered using the satellite’s Sun sensors.

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