Electro Static Discharge Testing on Meteosat 3rd Generation Photovoltaic Assembly

Abstract

The electrostatic discharge testing on Photovoltaic Assemblies has been thoroughly investigated and performed during the last decade to ensure durability of solar arrays, especially in cases of high power satellites. Leonardo Company together with Aerospazio Tecnologie performed the test for the first time in the framework of Meteosat Third Generation (MTG, a Geostationary satellite of 2.5kW, mounting 3G solar cells) with two goals: the first was to qualify MTG PVA technology against possible ESD occurrences during mission and the second was to characterize the PVA design limits against self-sustained arcs. This paper illustrates the ESD analysis, the test set up preparation and the test results obtained in the framework of MTG ESD test campaign.