Sunpower started developing compact Stirling cryocooler products in the late 1980s. Sunpower introduced the first model, the M77, in 1992 and sold over 150 units to numerous customers. One M77 cryocooler commissioned by NASA has orbited the earth on the RHESSI satellite since February of 2002.

 

In response to customers' needs for a lower-cost, higher-volume product, Sunpower developed a cryocooler manufacturing capability in the late 1990s. Sunpower designed the first model, the M87, specifically for production in a manufacturing environment. Hundreds were built for testing and sale. Two modified M87’s are scheduled for use in the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer AMS-02 experiment scheduled for a forthcoming Space Shuttle mission.

 

Today, Sunpower sells the CryoTel^® family of cryocoolers, now available in three standard models with a variety of configurations at a low price for diverse areas of applications.  A number of customer-specific models have also been developed.  Sunpower's current annual manufacturing capacity is thousands of units.

CryoTel® Model	MT	CT	GT
Ambient Operation	-40°C to 60°C	-40°C to 60°C	-40°C to 60°C
Orientation	Operates in any orientation	Operates in any orientation	Operates in any orientation
Nominal Cooler Input Power	80 Watts	160 Watts	240 Watts
Power Supply	DC 24 V/DC48V	DC 24 V	DC 48V
Performance
Nominal Lift at 77 K (35°C reject)	5 Watts	10 Watts	15 Watts
No Load Temperature (35°C reject)	40K	35 K	35K
Cooler Mass	2.1 kg	3.1 kg	3.1 kg
Operating Frequency	60 Hz	60 Hz	60 Hz
Temperature Stability	+ 0.1K	+ 0.1K	+ 0.1K
Skin Drawing
Performance Curve

 

 

There are a number of configuration variations available with the CryoTel^® cryocoolers.

 

CryoTel^® cryocoolers are manufactured products, and pricing is sensitive to volume. Contact Sunpower for specific volume pricing requests.

The CryoTel^® carries an 18-month full replacement warranty, exclusive of failure due to misuse. Sunpower develops other warranty arrangements for specific customers.