Design, analysis & testing of the CellSaver concentrator for spacecraft solar arrays

CellSaver is an on-panel reflective concentrator used to significantly reduce the cost of spacecraft multijunction solar cell arrays. CellSaver is a unique concentrator because it can easily be retrofit on to existing solar array platforms due to its compatibility with standard large area multi-junction solar cells and standard composite solar panels and its ability to stow in very small panel gaps (<1 cm.) This paper presents CellSaver design details and space flight qualification test results. Detailed test data is given for electrical performance measurements with EMCORE and Spectrolab triple-junction cell strings, GEO thermal cycling, stowed random vibration, and electron, proton and UV radiation exposure.