Space plasma induced arcing on HV solar arrays

The interactions between HV systems and the low-earth-orbit environment are reviewed. The mechanism responsible for the observed arcing on negatively biased solar arrays is discussed, and calculations of the plasma density dependence on the voltage threshold are compared with experiments. For positively biased systems, the enhancement of current collection resulting from neutral ionization within the electron collection sheath is discussed. Numerical simulations of the effect are also presented. The altitude and voltage range in which these two interactions will be important are discussed, and techniques are presented to ameliorate them