New Facility to Speed Solar Array Production

TRW’s Redondo Beach-based Space and Electronics Group has unveiled a highly automated production facility for solar arrays, the wing-like structures that collect energy for satellites.

The space and electronics unit, which employs about 9,700 workers at its Space Park campus, said the Space Power Production Facility will lower costs, speed up production and reduce damage to solar cells during production.

TRW said the building is a multimillion-dollar project, but the company declined to be more specific. Production began at the new site in April, but the company opened the factory to customers and others last week.

The custom-designed equipment will allow robots to handle the fragile postage-stamp-size solar cells, which are connected together to create panels, according to Sally Koris, a TRW spokeswoman.

“We see demand increasing in the coming years, and we intend to be the premier supplier to the marketplace,” said Allan M. Frew, vice president and general manager of TRW’s Space and Technology division.