Solar arrays in space are subjected to a daunting set of environmental hazards, including extreme temperature cycles, particulate and ultraviolet radiation in space, micrometeoroid damage, and exposure to a flux of atomic oxygen in low-Earth orbit. Over the years since the first solar cells were sent into space on Vanguard 1 in 1958, space solar array technology has advanced to develop photovoltaic materials, cells, and arrays resistant to these degradation mechanisms. This chapter highlights approaches to solar array design for near-Sun missions including thermal management at the systems level, to optimize efficiency at elevated temperature, or the use of novel device design to reduce the incident solar energy to limit operating temperature. Several of these have been successfully demonstrated to enable solar-powered spacecraft to explore the near-Sun planets such as Mercury and Venus as well as the Sun itself.
Chapter Fourteen - Space Photovoltaics for Extreme High-Temperature Missions
2023-01-19
Article/Chapter (Book)
No indication
English
High-temperature solar cells , extreme high-temperature , High-intensity low-temperature , Parker Solar Probe , Spacecraft Propulsion and Power , Extreme temperature cycles , Space photooltaics , Mercury MESSENGER mission , Near-Sun solar cell operation , Radiation damage , Venus probes , High-temperature space missions , Solar arrays , micrometeoroid damage , ultraviolet radiation , Thermal issues
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