Abstract

GONZALEZ LLORENTE, Jesús D  and  PUERTO LEGUIZAMON, Gustavo A. Estimation of power delivered by photovoltaic cells of a cubesat. Tecnura [online]. 2014, vol.18, n.41, pp.53-63. ISSN 0123-921X.

CubeSats are small satellites that due to their size restriction have photovoltaic cells placed on theirs surface as the only energy source. The purpose of this work is to estimate the maximum amount of power that can be obtained from these solar cells, so that an energy balance can be made during the design of space mission with this kind of satellites. In the analyzed scenario, a CubeSat of 10cm x 10cm x 10cm (1U) has always a face oriented toward the Earth. Cosine loss and the temperature variation due to satellite orbit are considered. For the estimation we use a mathematical model of the solar cells, which is also used to estimate the maximum power point according to the incidence angle of the solar radiation and the temperature on a low orbit around the Earth. The results show the variation of the maximum electric power supplied by the panels on the illuminated portion of the orbit, without considering the Earth's albedo. Apart from the power, the current -voltage curves are estimated for different locations over the CubeSat's orbit.

Keywords : CubeSat; orbit; photovoltaic cells; pico-satellites; power.

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