Multiple factor analytical performance assessment model of solar cell array electrical behavior for low-orbit spacecraft

ABSTRACT

The solar cell array is the primary source of power for low-orbit spacecraft systems. It is particularly important and challenging to develop a solar cell array model considering multiple factors for assessing the electrical performance of the array. A multiple factor analytical performance assessment model of solar cell array electrical behavior is established for low-orbit spacecraft. The model considers performance degradation of the solar cell array caused by the low-orbit environment, including illumination conditions and temperature. The established model can automatically generate electricity depending on whether it enters or exits a shadow. As the representative of electrical behavior, I-V curves of the solar cell array under different conditions are obtained, and the output capability of the solar cell array under various conditions is simulated using this model. Through comparison of laboratory data and on-orbit data (R2 is 0.976 and 0.958, and RMSE is 0.003 and 0.609, respectively), it indicates that the established model has correctly taken the influence of the low-orbit environment into account. It can be concluded that the established model is effective for characterizing the electrical behavior of the solar cell array and can be applied to system-level simulations and on-orbit performance assessment of low-orbit spacecraft.

KEYWORDS:

• Solar cell array
• multiple factor
• electrical behavior
• performance assessment
• low-orbit spacecraft

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Conceptualization, Gaige Chen; Data curation, Pei Wang and Yahong Yang; Formal analysis, Qiang Wang; Funding acquisition, Gaige Chen; Methodology, Gaige Chen; Project administration, Qiang Wang; Resources, Qiang Wang; Software, Pei Wang and YuDong Yang; Validation, Qiang Wang; Visualization, Pei Wang and YuDong Yang; Writing-original draft, Pei Wang; Writing-review & editing, Pei Wang. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This research is supported financially by the Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62271390, 52275507), the Key Project of National Defense Basic Scientific Research Program of China (JCKY2020203B051). Comments and suggestions from the editor and reviewers are very much appreciated.

Notes on contributors

Pei Wang

Pei Wang is currently an associate Professor at Xidian University, Xi’an, China. She mainly engaged in the research on digital twin technology.

Gaige Chen

Gaige Chen is currently an associate professor with School of Communications and Information Engineering & School of Artificial Intelligence, Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications, Xi’an, China. His research interests include multi-sensor data fusion and complex equipment prognostics.

Yahong Yang

Yahong Yang is currently a senior engineer with State Key Laboratory of Space Power-sources Technology, Shanghai Institute of Space Power-sources, Shanghai, China. She mainly engaged in the research and development of space power supply system and control technology.

Qiang Wang

Qiang Wang is currently an engineer with Shanghai Institute of Space Power-sources, Shanghai, China. He engaged in the development of space power system.

YuDong Yang

Yudong Yang is master student with School of Communications and Information Engineering & School of Artificial Intelligence, Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications, Xi’an, China. His research interest is complex equipment prognostics.