Futurology

I am familiar with how space radiators work, but thanks for the clarifications. A sandwich design is definitely not optimal for a diffuse swarm of satellites in earth orbit.

I think my confusion stemmed from the fact that I was envisioning a dense swarm of these in solar orbit, rather than earth orbit.

In this case, I don't think a 90 degree offset radiator panel would work, as it would primarily heat up the neighboring panels, and vice versa. The only direction available to radiate energy is directly away from the sun. I would be curious to know what fraction of the energy would need to be devoted to thermal management. The smaller the radiator, the hotter it needs to operate to emit the same amount of heat.

I wonder if it would be possible to make flat, high-temperature electronics which could be used as the radiator? Just pop them on the back of a solar panel and you'd be good to go!