System-level Evaluation of the Operation of Different Solar Array Structures for Various CubeSat Configurations

Abstract

In this paper, the feasibility and performance of using solar arrays equipped with sun concentrators, along with other conventional solar array structures, in CubeSats, is investigated for the first time. For this purpose, seven different structures of solar arrays have been defined and implemented for more than 24 different CubeSat configurations from 0.25U to 27U. Then, by calculating important system-level parameters such as power generation density, power generation cost, reliability of solar arrays, and also a newly proposed parameter, called shape fit factor, the performance of these structures for the introduced configurations are evaluated and compared. To this end, and by considering rational coefficients, a cost function consisting of the four above-mentioned parameters is defined as the degree of merit of different solar array structures used in each CubeSat configuration. The results show that alongside the use of deployable solar arrays, using concentrating solar arrays can provide new capabilities for CubeSats to overcome the challenge of generating sufficient power.

Keywords

• cubesat
• electrical power subsystem
• solar array
• concentrator
• system-level parameter