– We want to study possible benefits resulting from long-term exposure to space radiation of PV panels covered with scintillators – explains Marek Pąśko, project head. – A scintillator is a material that absorbs ionizing radiation energy and turns it into, i.a., visible light.

The students will verify if the combination of a panel and a scintillator can generate, only from space radiation, such power that it could be an alternative to conventional methods used in the space industry at present.

– Thanks to results that we will obtain during the campaign – when our experiment is lifted in a balloon to the altitude of 20-30 km – we will be able to scale it to other places in space and thus determine how this “composite” is doing – explains Marek Pąśko.

What places does the team mean? Places where solar light intensity is low and radiation – high. This will allow to obtain even better results in power. Such conditions are characteristic, for instance, for Jupiter.

If the data analysis proves that the ”composites” of our students produce more power than ordinary panels, this may reduce the mass of objects in missions (e.g., in the vicinity of Jupiter). A lower mass of panels means, in turn, savings, which allow to put additional devices in objects sent to missions.

The EVE CURiE experiment is a follow-up of last year’s project titled CURiE – just like Eve Curie was the daughter of Maria Skłodowska-Curie. Then PV panels (covered only with an aluminium layer, without a scintillator) were used as radiation detectors. In EVE CURiE the team is going one step further – they test how panels produce power.

– Participation in such project, apart from providing scientific data, is for us a great opportunity to learn. We can experience work in the space industry and have contact with engineers who have been working in the industry for years and can help us develop the experiment – says Marek Pąśko.

The launch campaign of the programme REXUS/BEXUS is planned for the end of October 2025.