Analysis of Solar Cell Efficiency for Venus Atmosphere and Surface Missions

Landis, Geoffrey A.; Haag, Emily

doi:10.2514/6.2013-4028

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Despite the adverse environmental conditions of Venus' atmosphere, a solution with solar cells might potentially be feasible [66]. Adding solar arrays to the probe increases the system complexity, since SARs are required to condition the power they provide, as is a BCDR module to regulate the charge and discharge of the batteries.…”

Section: Option 2: Rechargeable Cells and Solar Arraysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As mentioned in Section 1.4, the region of interest is the equator, targeting altitudes from 40 km to 70 km, although, as will be shown in the next section, altitudes below 55 km might not be feasible from a thermal perspective. The corresponding power generated per unit area of triple-junction solar cells is 112.2 W/m 2 , 256 W/m 2 and 700 W/m 2 for 40 km, 55 km and 70 km, respectively [66].…”

Section: Solar Array Sizingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the Habitability of Venus: Conceptual Design of a Small Atmospheric Probe

et al. 2021

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The possible presence of life in the atmosphere of Venus has been debated frequently over the last 60 years. The discussion was recently reignited by the possible detection of phosphine (PH3), but several other chemicals potentially relevant for life processes are also found in the middle atmosphere. Moreover, the reasons for the heterogeneous ultraviolet (UV) absorption between 320 and 400 nm in the altitude range ∼40–70 km are still not well understood. These aspects could be further studied in-situ by UV Raman and fluorescence instruments. Here, the conceptual design of a small balloon probe (<20 kg) is presented, including a science payload comprising a UV laser, spectrometer, and a telescope. The goal of the proposed mission is to analyse the absorption of UV light in Venus’ atmosphere, to study the atmospheric composition, and to verify the possible presence of biomarkers. Current state-of-the-art technologies would allow a more cost-efficient and easy to develop mission, as compared to previous Venus probes. This article is focused on the scientific instrumentation, as well as on the mass and power budgets required to realise the proposed mission.

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Section: Option 2: Rechargeable Cells and Solar Arraysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Solar Array Sizingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Habitability of Venus: Conceptual Design of a Small Atmospheric Probe

et al. 2021

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“…This assumption is driven by high-temperature electronics technology that is expected to be fully operational by the time frame of the design phase for this mission. 13,14 Eliminating cooling from the lander will reduce its mass and power consumption.…”

Section: Tradesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another option that will not be explored is a solar array and battery combination because of the landing location at the North Pole. Although the use of solar arrays may be a feasible choice at the equator, 14 it is not a feasible choice near the polar regions due to the low sun angle.…”

Section: Tradesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Cooled Power System for Venus Lander

Salazar

Landis

Colozza

2014

12th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

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The Planetary Science Decadal Survey of 2013-2022 stated that the exploration of Venus is of significant interest. Studying the seismic activity of the planet is of particular importance because the findings can be compared to the seismic activity of Earth. Further, the geological and atmospheric properties of Venus will shed light into the past and future of Earth. This paper presents a radioisotope power system (RPS) design for a small low-power Venus lander. The feasibility of the new power system is then compared to that of primary batteries. A requirement for the power source system is to avoid moving parts in order to not interfere with the primary objective of the mission -to collect data about the seismic activity of Venus using a seismometer. The target mission duration of the lander is 117 days, a significant leap from Venera 13, the longest-lived lander on the surface of Venus, which survived for 2 hours. One major assumption for this mission design is that the power source system will not provide cooling to the other components of the lander. This assumption is based on high-temperature electronics technology that will enable the electronics and components of the lander to operate at Venus surface temperature. For the proposed RPS, a customized General Purpose Heat Source Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (GPHS-RTG) is designed and analyzed. The GPHS-RTG is chosen primarily because it has no moving parts and it is capable of operating for long duration missions on the order of years. This power system is modeled as a spherical structure for a fundamental thermal analysis. The total mass and electrical output of the system are calculated to be 24 kilograms and 26 Watts, respectively. An alternative design for a battery-based power system uses Sodium Sulfur batteries. To deliver a similar electrical output for 117 days, the battery mass is calculated to be 234 kilograms. Reducing mission duration or power required will reduce the required battery mass. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of both power systems with regard to science return, risk, and cost are briefly compared. The design of the radioisotope power system is considerably riskier because it is novel and would require additional years of further refinement, manufacturing, safety analysis, and testing that the primary batteries do not need. However, the lifetime of the radioisotope power system makes its science return more promising.

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“…Even US National Academies of Science Space Studies placed Venus exploration as one of the highest priorities for medium-class future missions [8]. Landis et al proposed some ideas to intensively studying Venus by using a solar airplane, sending a robotic exploration of the surface and atmosphere of Venus [3,5,6,[9][10][11][12][13]. Based on the fact that the upper atmosphere of Venus at an altitude of 50 km has similar pressure, gravity, density, and radiation protection to that of the Earth, NASA had proposed a High-Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) project to conduct a 30-day crewed mission into Venus atmosphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the Output Performance of Al0.3Ga0.7As/InP/Ge Triple-Junction Solar Cells for a Venus Orbiter Space Station

et al. 2019

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The performance of Al0.3Ga0.7As/InP/Ge triple-junction solar cells (TJSC) at the geosynchronous orbit of Venus had been simulated in this paper by assuming that the solar cells were put on a hypothetical Venus orbiter space station. The incoming solar radiation on TJSC was calculated by a blackbody radiation formula, while PC1D program simulated the electrical output performance. The results show that the incoming solar intensity at the geosynchronous orbit of Venus is 3000 W/m2, while the maximum solar cell efficiency achieved is 38.94%. Considering a similar area of the solar panel as the International Space Station (about 2500 m2), the amount of electricity produced by Venus orbiter space station at the geosynchronous orbit of Venus is 2.92 MW, which is plenty of energy to power the space station for long-term exploration and intensive research on Venus.

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Analysis of Solar Cell Efficiency for Venus Atmosphere and Surface Missions

Cited by 16 publications

References 10 publications

Exploring the Habitability of Venus: Conceptual Design of a Small Atmospheric Probe

Exploring the Habitability of Venus: Conceptual Design of a Small Atmospheric Probe

Non-Cooled Power System for Venus Lander

Modeling the Output Performance of Al0.3Ga0.7As/InP/Ge Triple-Junction Solar Cells for a Venus Orbiter Space Station

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