This article describes the design of a multielement solid-state detector system for use on the SRS materials science Station 9.3. The detector system is discussed in detail and test data are presented. The current system consists of 13, 8-mm diam, germanium diodes mounted in a single cryostat. The system operates with a 0.5-mu-s shaping time and achieves better than 200-eV resolution at 5.9 keV. Rate and resolution characteristics of the system are discussed with a view to future improvements in the system.