Evaluation of a gallium arsenide solar panel on the LIPS II satellite

Conference · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984 · Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovoltaic Spec. Conf.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5123055

Trumble, T M; Betz, F

On 10 February 1983 the Living Plume Shield (LIPS II) satellite was launched by the Naval Research Laboratory with three double sided solar panels providing electrical power. One side of one panel contains 300 2cm X 2cm gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells while each of the other five sides contain 104 2.1cm X 6.2cm silicon (Si) solar cells. The U.S. Air Force developed GaAs cells were provided to the Navy in a cooperative program to build, test, qualify and fly a GaAs solar panel. Nineteen months after the beginning of the cooperative program the vehicle was launched. There are considerable statistical variances in the data and data cannot be acquired continuously owing to the requirement to be over a tracking station while the GaAs panel is facing the sun. The first 30 days of operation were unmeasured due to satellite orientation problems. The first measurements indicated a 7.3% power loss in panel performance compared to ground preflight measurements. This loss is still unexplained. This paper provides a summary of the LIPS II program and the data analysis on the GaAs solar panel performance for the first year in orbit.

• Research Organization: Wright-Patterson AFB Ohio
• OSTI ID: 5123055
• Report Number(s): CONF-840561-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovoltaic Spec. Conf.; (United States)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
140600 -- Solar Energy-- Photovoltaic Power Systems
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
GALLIUM ARSENIDE SOLAR CELLS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SUPPLIES
POWER SUPPLIES
SATELLITES
SOLAR CELL ARRAYS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPACECRAFT POWER SUPPLIES
US ORGANIZATIONS