Tank testing of a 2500-cm2 solar panel

Technical Report · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:6567557

Bever, R S; Staskus, J

A 50 cm by 50 cm solar array panel test patch was investigated for spacecraft charging and arcing effects. Bombardment with monochromatic electron was carried out. Some objectives of the test were: (1) to estimate at what voltage of electron bombardment arcing would be probable (2) to find whether the arc's energy would be tolerable or damagingly large (3) to try and separate thermal and photoeffects and, (4) to see whether materials used were such as to minimize arcing. Some conclusions were: In sunlight the tracking data relay satellite's solar panel which has ceria glass on the front and conductive paint on the backside is probably a good design for reducing charge-up. In a geomagnetic substorm simulated in testing there will be arcing at the interconnects during eclipse and transitions into and out of eclipse in testing especially in view of the very cold temperatures that will be reached by this lightweight array. Ceria-doped glass is preferred to fused silica glass for reducing charge build up. The Kapton bare patch should still be conductively painted. The differential voltages on the panel determine when arcing first begins, and the electron beam voltages vary depending upon whether the metallic structure is directly grounded or semifloating.

• Research Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, OH (USA). Lewis Research Center; NASA. Lewis Research Center
• OSTI ID: 6567557
• Report Number(s): N-82-14228
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
BEAMS
ELECTRIC CHARGES
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
ELECTRON BEAMS
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
GLASS
LEPTON BEAMS
PARTICLE BEAMS
POWER SUPPLIES
SOLAR CELL ARRAYS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPACECRAFT POWER SUPPLIES
TESTING