TS-Space Systems - Solar Simulators and Vacuum Testing

  • Home
  • About
    • Publications
  • News
  • Products
  • Test House
  • Contact

Up and Running for 2022

4/1/2022

0 Comments

 
After a very busy end to 2021, we are back and have hit the ground running for 2022.

Work on the latest TVAC#3 chamber system has unfortunately been delayed over past year due to the demand of test work and simulator builds (it has been a nice problem to have!). Most of the power electronics have been complete with the remaining parts in stock ready for assembly. We have the shroud system machined and ready for building and integration, with the final machining of the thermal interface plate beginning this week. 
Picture
We have a very busy test work schedule already underway and booking up fort he first quarter of 2022 so if you are thinking of contacting us to discuss a test requirement, please get in touch sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.

Finally, we will be conducting a complete overhaul of our simulator range this year to simplify some of the options available and streamline our manufacturing processes for our solar simulator builds. We will announce these changes on our website and social media accounts later in the year.

From all of us at TS-Space Systems, we wish you a Happy New Year and all the best for 2022!
0 Comments

Christmas Closing and 2022 Opening Dates

22/12/2021

0 Comments

 
We will be closing for the Christmas holidays from 23/12/21 to 03/01/22. We will be back from the 04/01/22.
We would like to thank all of our regular customers and those who found us for the first time in 2021 for their custom. We appreciate it has been a difficult 18 months for most industries and we thank you for your understanding as we've worked with supply issues and difficult working conditions.
Picture
We will be back in 2022 with more updates to our test house facility and range of solar simulators. We are planning to have our TVAC#3 chamber up and running in 2022 (it has unfortunately been delayed this year due to test work load) and will be developing our N-Zone simulator design to take advantage of the latest technology and R&D we have undertaken during the year.
Until then, all of us at TS-Space Systems would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
0 Comments

TVAC Shroud Update and Other News

15/4/2021

 

Thermal Shroud is Go!

We are pleased to announce that the thermal shroud system has been fully installed and tested for our TVAC#2 vacuum chamber.

​Previously the system could be configured with a passive baffle unit with infrared tubes for elevated temperatures (for thermal cycling or monitored thermal vacuum bakeout) but this was limiting for cold temperatures where the system relied on conduction via the thermal interface plate and the item under test.

The shroud system consists of four independently controllable banks of IR heaters (allowing asymmetric heating of an item under test) with fluid lines coupled to the back of the tooling plates which can take either coolant from our chiller circulator systems or LN2 for cryogenic temperatures (an automated fill system maintains the LN2 level within the shroud plates).
solar simulator
thermal vacuum chamber shroud
​This not only improves the performance of our TVAC#2 thermal vacuum chamber in terms of thermal cycling, but also reduces down time between tests as no reconfiguration is required.

Simulators in Demand

Having delivered a large, advanced 4-zone close match solar simulator to one of our existing customers at the end of 2020 we have since seen a considerable increase in inquiries for solar simulators from the very start of 2021.

We have not been resting on our laurels in terms of leading the world in advanced, multi-zone solar simulators; we have developed the LED boost systems we use to take advantage of the latest developments in the LED market. As such we can build a Unisim 300 solar simulator to operate under our N-zone technique. This essentially reduces the footprint and electrical requirement to achieve a 4-zone Unisim 300 (previously quite a large instrument) down to what is a 2-zone system with LED units.

As always, if you are interested in what we can achieve with our close match solar simulators (or any of our products or services) please get in touch.

Open As Usual

5/1/2021

 
A very Happy New Year from all of us at TS-Space Systems and best wishes for your 2021.

We are open as usual (due to our size we are able to continue working within the government lockdown regulations) and are already underway with work for 2021. Despite the current situation we are looking forward to a busy and productive year.

As always, please feel free to contact us with your test or product enquiries and we will be happy to provide quotes or discuss your test requirement with you.
Picture

Made in Britain: What it means to us

19/11/2020

 
As part of the MiB application and renewal process a manufacturer must demonstrate that the majority of their product is manufactured in the UK and we thought it would be useful to share some of those details here. Supporting and promoting British manufacturing is something TS-Space Systems has held as a core value since the company was started over 35 years ago. As you will see from the mark displayed on our site and our products, we are members of the 'Made in Britain' group (MiB) which is is a protected, collective mark exclusively for the British manufacturing community. 

​Our work at TS-Space Systems can be broadly divided into two categories; manufacturing of world leading, close match solar simulators for photovoltaic testing and the operation of our various thermal vacuum test chambers and services. Across both of these activities we prioritise using UK companies and products wherever possible.
Picture
Picture
Picture
The major, integral components of our solar simulators (enclosures, HMI lamp power supplies, custom optical filters and optical components) are all manufactured by UK companies in the UK. We design our power distribution and electonric  control systems in-house which are then wired by a UK company (in the UK). The simulators themselves are designed, built and tested by us in the UK and we have supplied companies and laboratories across the world.
For our in-house test chambers and facilities we design our own thermal control systems, thermal interface plates and shrouds. The manufacturing and finishing (plating, anodising etc.) of these parts is outsourced to UK machinists and engineering companies. Heating elements and cooling systems are all sourced from UK companies who manufacture in the UK. Final assembly and testing of the systems is, of course, conducted by ourselves.

As you can tell, we are serious about supporting UK manufacturing and working with UK companies for every aspect of our business and we are constantly looking to expand our contacts in this regard. If you are a UK manufacturer and you think your products could be of interest to us, please feel free to get in touch with us and let us know.

Open During Lockdown #2

3/11/2020

 
We wanted to make a very short announcement to let our customers know we will be open as usual during the upcoming UK lockdown, planed to begin 5th November.

Due to our size we are able to work in relative isolation and within the government guidelines. As always, please feel free to 
contact us via email, phone or social media.
Picture

Outgassing and Test Facility Availability

28/9/2020

 
Our outgassing (ECSS-Q-ST-70-02) test facility has seen increasing demand over the past few years and 2020 it seems is no different. The facility is currently booked until the second half of January 2021. If you are looking to book an outgassing test please contact us sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.
Similarly our vacuum test chambers seeing an increase in demand towards the end of the year, so if you are looking to make an enquiry for an urgent test or looking to book a test for next year this is worth keeping in mind.
Picture
At the start of 2020 we took delivery of a new TVAC chamber which we had scheduled to come online mid 2020. However during the UK covid-19 response in March we undertook large scale improvements to our test house involving a new floor being poured and laid along with a complete re-wiring of the laboratory to support the additional equipment we have installed. This required a complete dismantling of all of our test chambers and equipment in order to clear the lab.
Due to this disruption, along with the increased test and manufacturing demand in the second half of the year, we have had to delay the commissioning of TVAC#3 into 2021. Work has continued on the machining of the thermal exchange plate and installation of the pumps on the chamber system. However final run-up and testing is not scheduled until the start of 2021. Once ready the additional chamber in our facility will increase throughput and reduce wait times for TVAC tests.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers who have either been using us for years or have just found is this year. We realise being busy is a very nice problem to have right now and so we thank you for choosing us for your test work.

TVAC Shrouds and Other News

5/5/2020

 

​Shroud Upgrade for TVAC#2

As our customers will know, our thermal vacuum chambers are very flexible in terms of temperature ranges, thermal exchange plates and instrumentation they can be fitted with. We design and build our chamber systems ourselves so we are able to break them down and re-configure or upgrade them when required.

Since we commissioned TVAC#2  in 2018 we have been planning to install a custom shroud to improve thermal performance for larger items under test (both monitored vacuum bakeout and thermal vacuum cycling tests). Due to demand for the vacuum chamber we have had to delay this work until now. Final fitting and testing will take place over the next few weeks.
Picture
TVAC#2 shroud with fluid lines for cooling and IR fixtures for heating
solar simulator

Unisim Solar Simulator Builds

We are currently underway with several close match solar simulator builds. It's always great when we are contacted by new customers who want to buy our solar simulators, but we are also very appreciative of our repeat customers and we are extremely pleased to be building systems for both situations right now.

Our standard range of Unisim solar simulators can be built with varying number of spectral zones and beam configurations. Our smaller Unisim Compact solar simulator can also be built with various aspects included/excluded to the customer's specification. Infrared boost zones, SMU and AM1.5 filter units can all be easily fitted at a later date if required.

COVID-19 Actions - Open as Normal

17/4/2020

 
Update: 05/05/20

We continue to be open as normal. Please see the previous updates below for details.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: 17/04/20

We hope all of our customers and colleagues are safe and well at this time.

With the UK COVID-19 lockdown being extended for a further 3 weeks we wanted to let our customers know we are still operating our test house and continuing our solar simulator builds. As mentioned previously, due to our company's size we are able to continue work while maintaining an effective "social distancing" protocol where, with the exception of courier deliveries, we can continue in isolation from the public and in compliance with the government's instructions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: 25/03/20

We are still operating our test house and continuing our solar simulator builds. Due to our company's size we are able to continue work while maintaining an effective "social distancing" protocol where, with the exception of courier deliveries, we can continue in isolation from the public and in compliance with the government's instructions.

Our 3D printer is currently dedicated to making visors/PPE for health workers as part of a coordinated effort by the National 3D Printing Society. If you have a 3D printer and want to help out sign up here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: 23/03/20

We continue to monitor and follow the government's advice for  COVID-19.

Due to our company's size we are able to continue work while maintaining an effective "social distancing" protocol where, with the exception of courier deliveries, we can continue in isolation. Our test work and simulator manufacturing is proceeding as scheduled until government advice or regulation means we must stop.

We wish all of our customers well and hope you are staying safe during this time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: 13/03/20

We are monitoring the government's advice for  COVID-19. Currently we are still in full operation and normal business hours pertain. If this changes we will provide notification via our website and social media.

One advantage we have in being a small business is a minimal exposure that can be managed to reduce any risk even further. However, if future government advice means we have to pause work, we will inform any customers affected by the delay as soon as possible. 

We thank you for your understanding.
Picture

A Busy Start to 2020

19/2/2020

 

Test Schedules

So far 2020 has seen our test house facilities in fairly constant use. We are also planning improvements to our laboratory space along with the movement of some equipment and tooling facilities to another unit. As such we are currently booked out to the end of May for longer term testing, with some short-term availability at the beginning of April.

For our outgassing customers, our dedicated outgassing testing facility will not be disrupted by the planned facility works.
Picture
vacuum UV test chamber

TVAC#3 and Facility Upgrades

At the end of 2019 we took delivery of a new chamber which is to become TVAC#3. We are expecting delivery of the pumps and other hardware in the coming weeks (the pumping system will be the same as TVAC#1 and #2 i.e. oil free). We had planned to begin work on setting up the chamber at the start of 2020 but our test house has had a rather busy start to the year so it has, frustratingly, had to wait.

We are also about to start, in the coming month, upgrading our lab facility. A new floor will be poured and laid as well as an overhaul to the power distribution and facilities within the lab. As with all big projects, we plan for everything to go to schedule and be back up and running within 1-2 weeks but there is the possibility of delays getting our chambers re-commissioned and ready.
<<Previous

    TS-Space Systems News

    Categories

    All
    Aerospace Test House
    Close Match Spectrum
    Covid-19
    ECSS-Q-70-04A
    ECSS-Q-ST-70-01
    ECSS-Q-ST-70-05C
    FTIR
    GDPR
    IV Measurement
    LED Solar Simulator
    Light Sources
    Lockdown
    Low Cost Solar Simulators
    Made In Britain
    Manufacturing
    Multijunction Solar Cells
    News
    Offgassing Testing
    Opening Hours
    Outgassing Testing
    Solar Simulator Demonstration
    Solar Simulator Faq
    Solar Simulators
    Test Facilities
    Unisim Compact
    Unsim Solar Simulator
    Vacuum Bakeout
    Vacuum Chambers
    Website Policies

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    RSS Feed

Company

About
Products
Services

Support

Contact
Guide to Simulators
Cookie Policy
Privacy Policy
​
Terms and Conditions
Picture
© COPYRIGHT 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.