The future low earth orbit infrastructure (manned and unmanned) will demand considerably higher electric power supplies as compared to past applications. Photovoltaic power systems are space proven but suffer from a low conversion efficiency which leads to high operational costs (orbit keeping) particularly in low earth orbits. Solar-dynamic space power systems promise a drastically increased conversion efficiency (nearly equal to factor 3), hence lower operational costs. The power conversion unit is of major influence within the overall power system. The power conversion unit's qualities decide on the mass and the size/efficiency of the power system. After an introduction to the power conversion units and a pre-optimization, a trade-off was carried out, identifying a free-piston Stirling engine based power system as the best future choice and an Organic Rankine cycle based power system as a good near-term experiment alternative.
Power conversion units for solar-dynamic space power generation
Energieumwandlungseinheiten für solardynamische Weltraumenergieerzeugung
Proceedings of the European Space Power Conference ; SP-320 ; 213-218
1991
6 Seiten, 10 Bilder, 3 Tabellen, 11 Quellen
Conference paper
English
A Solar Dynamic Power Option for Space Solar Power
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