Analysis of solar panel orientation in low altitude satellites

Author

Anigstein, Pablo A. ; Peña, Ricardo S Sánchez

Author_Institution

Buenos Aires Univ., Argentina

Volume

34

Issue

2

fYear

1998

fDate

4/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

569

Lastpage

578

Abstract

The computation of the optimal orientation of solar panels which are fixed to the body of the satellite, from the point of view of average power, is presented. In practical cases, some of the parameters which determine the optimal orientation vary during the lifetime of the satellite. In these cases we compute a worst case optimum, which maximizes the average power in the worst case situation. Finally, an application of these procedures to an Earth observation satellite is performed

Keywords

artificial satellites; optimisation; solar absorber-convertors; solar cell arrays; space vehicle power plants; Earth observation satellite; Sun projection; average power; daylight angle; eclipse computation; effectiveness coefficient; fixed panel orientation problem; low altitude satellites; optimal orientation; solar panel orientation; worst case optimum; worst case situation; Aerospace electronics; Aerospace engineering; Artificial satellites; Cables; Design engineering; Low earth orbit satellites; Power engineering and energy; Power system reliability; Space vehicles; Sun;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9251

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/7.670337

Filename

670337