Analysis of shadowing effects on Mir photovoltaic and solar dynamic power systems
- NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH (United States)
The solar dynamic unit will be flown on the Russian Mir space station in anticipation of use on the International Space Station Alpha. The Mir will be a spatially complex configuration which will have, in addition to the three-gimbaled solar dynamic unit, 11 solar array wings that are either fixed or track the Sun along one axis and a variety of repositionable habitation and experiment modules. The proximity of arrays to modules makes it highly probable that there will be varying solar flux due to shadowing on the solar dynamic unit and some of the arrays throughout the orbit. Shadowing causes fluctuations in the power output from the arrays and the solar dynamic power system, reducing the energy capabilities of the spacecraft. An assessment of the power system under these conditions is an important part in influencing the design and operations of the spacecraft and predicting its energy performance. This paper describes the results obtained from using the Orbiting Spacecraft Shadowing Analysis (OSSA) program that was integrated into the Station Power Analysis for Capability Evaluation (SPACE) electrical power system computer code. OSSA allows one to consider the numerous complex factors for analyzing the shadowing effects on the electrical power system including the variety of spacecraft hardware geometric configurations, yearly and daily orbital variations in the vehicle attitude and orbital maneuvers. The geometric models of the Mir with a solar dynamic power unit that were used in performing shadowing analyses are described. Also presented in this paper are results for individual orbits for several flight attitude cases which include assessments of the shadowing impacts upon the solar dynamic unit and the solar arrays. The best, nominal and worst impact of shadowing considering a wide possible range of parameter changes for typical mission operation period is shown.
- OSTI ID:
- 163392
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950729-; TRN: IM9604%%497
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 30. intersociety energy conversion engineering conference, Orlando, FL (United States), 30 Jul - 5 Aug 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the 30. intersociety energy conversion engineering conference. Volume 1; Goswami, D.Y. [ed.] [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)]; Kannberg, L.D.; Somasundaram, S. [eds.] [Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)]; Mancini, T.R. [ed.] [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)]; PB: 798 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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