The Arcing Rate for a High Voltage Solar Array: Theory and Experiments

Hastings, Daniel E.

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-2048-7_30

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Using the parameters listed in Table 2 for the silicon cells and assuming the entire 300 V are discharged, a value of 2:9 £ 10 14 is expected for C 1 . This is very close to the t value of 2:4 £ 10 14 . From this t, at an ion ux of 1:2 £ 10 13 /m 2 s the arc rate is 0.05/s, corresponding to a charging time of 20 s. At a ux of 2 £ 10 14 /m 2 s, the arc rate is 0.5/s, and the charging time is thus 2 s. Substituting these values into Eq.…”

Section: Arc Rate Dependency On Ion Fluxsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…11¡13 Several ground experiments measured the effect of operational,environmental,and geometric parameters on the arc rate. Experiments by Kuninaka 7 and Hastings et al 14 found that the arc rate increases with voltage and plasma density and decreases with temperature. Experiments by Grier 15 and Miller 6 also found an increase in arc rates with increasing voltage, and Miller's tests also found increasing arc rate with plasma density.…”

Section: A Previous Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 97%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Flight Data Analysis for the Photovoltaic Array Space Power Plus Diagnostics Experiment

Soldi¹,

Hastings²,

Hardy³

et al. 1997

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

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As power demands continue to increase, spacecraft power systems are being designed to operate at higher voltages. When operating at high negative voltages, however, arcing may occur on the solar cells, generating electromagnetic interference and solar cell damage.Numerical and analyticmodels have been developed to simulate the arcing onset process, showing good agreement with experimental data. This simulation was used to predict arcing levels for the conventional geometry solar cells own on the Photovoltaic Array Space Power (PASP) Plus experiment. Both pre ight and post ight simulations showed good agreement with the ight data. The ight data were analyzed to examine correlations between arc rates and the various material, environmental, and operational parameters and to validate the theoretical model. Arcing levels were found to depend strongly on bias voltage, with the scalings suggested by the model proving to relate the arcing rates on the different modules accurately. Cell temperature was also veri ed as being a critical parameter, with high arcing rates seen at low temperatures. As expected from the model, there is a critical temperature, above which no arcing occurs. The ion ux was also seen to affect arc rates, as expected. Radiation ux to the arrays, however, did not affect arcing levels, although the data to support this conclusion are limited. Thus, the model was found to predict arcing levels for the cells under varying environmental and operational conditions and to allow data from one module to be accurately scaled to a module with different material and geometric parameters. This simulation could then be used to perform power system or solar cell design trade studies, with much less ground and ight testing needed for verication. NomenclatureA = Fowler-Nordheim coef cient (1:54 £ 10 ¡6 £ 10 4:52Á ¡1=2 W =Á W A=V 2 ) A array = solar array area, m 2 A cell = solar cell area, m 2 A wave = discharge wave area, m 2 B = Flower-Nordheim coef cient (6:53 £ 10 9 Á 1:5 W V =m) b n = coef cients in polynomial t to d i =d C diele = capacitance of dielectric, F/m 2 C front = capacitance of coverglass front surface, F C s = ion acoustic velocity, m/s C 1 , C 2 = coef cients to arc rate ts d = thickness of dielectric, m d i = distance of electron rst impact point from triple junction, m d 1 = thickness of coverglass, m d 2 = thickness of adhesive, m E d = neutral adsorbate binding energy, eV E max = electron incident energy for maximum secondary electron yield, eV E se = secondary electron energy, eV E se1 = electron incident energy for a secondary electron yield of unity, eV e = electron charge m e = electron mass, kg m i = ion mass, kg N cell = number of solar cells in array N n = number density of neutral particles adsorbed on dielectric side surface, m ¡2 N n0 = surface neutral density for monolayer coverage, m ¡2 n e = plasma number density, m ¡3 n na = ambient neutral density, m ¡3 n nc = critical desorbed neutral density for breakdown, m ¡3 Q ESD = effective electron stimulated desorption cross section, m ...

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Section: Arc Rate Dependency On Ion Fluxsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: A Previous Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Flight Data Analysis for the Photovoltaic Array Space Power Plus Diagnostics Experiment

Soldi¹,

Hastings²,

Hardy³

et al. 1997

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…(1), a very energetic MM/OD collision will create a plasma cloud containing ~0.01C. Since 1 C = 6.24×10 18 charges, then ~6×10 16 charges are created, which is the same order of SF 6 molecules released. Hence, these zeroth-order calculations indicate that in coatings of reasonable thickness it will be possible to entrap enough gas to quench most arcing events.…”

Section: Discussion Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arc Suppression Coatings for Electrodynamic Tethers and Spacecraft Cabling

Bilén¹,

Gilchrist

2009

AIAA SPACE 2009 Conference &Amp; Exposition

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“…In addition, planned charging and discharging events typically produce a rapid change in the payload potential with a slow decay to equilibrium so that large potentials can occur, for example, on LEO spacecraft solar arrays [Hastings et al, 1992]. Conventionally, most solar array systems for U.S. space vehicles have a bias of 28 V. Future solar arrays, however, are being designed for much higher voltages to meet higher power demands at low currents.…”

Section: Levels These Voltages Can Reach Hundreds Of Volts (Negative)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As is well known, spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) can acquire large negative potentials relative to the local plasma, and these potentials can damage sensitive spacecraft electronics even in the absence of active experimentation [McPherson et al, 1976;Hastings et al, 1992]. Large negative voltages can be acquired by movement through natural environments such as the auroral regions [Gussenhoven et al, 1985;Mullen et al, 1986] or because of active space experiments which emit a charged particle beam when insufficient neutralizing return current is collected [Borovsky, 1988].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discharging spacecraft through neutral gas release: Experiment and theory

Walker¹,

Amatucci²,

Bowles³

et al. 1999

J. Geophys. Res.

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Abstract. We describe experimental and theoretical research related to the mitigation of spacecraft charging by the release of neutral gas through specially designed nozzles. The experiments were conducted in the large Space Physics Simulation Chamber (SPSC) at the Naval Research Laboratory. A realistic near-Earth space environment can be simulated in this device for which minimum scaling needs to be performed to relate the data to space plasma regimes. The environment of the SPSC is similar to that encountered by spacecraft in low Earth orbit. The experimental arrangement consists of an aluminum cylinder which can be biased to high voltage (0.4 < V < 10 kV). The cylinder incorporates a neutral gas release valve designed for millisecond release times, a pressure-regulated neutral gas reservoir, and variable Mach number nozzles. After the cylinder is charged to high voltage the neutral gas is released, inducing a breakdown of the gas in the strong electric field about the cylinder. Collection of ions from the newly created dense plasma, along with secondary electron emission from the cylinder surface, provides the return current necessary for grounding the body. We treat the breakdown theoretically as a Townsend discharge and use the fundamental assumption of exponential electron growth as one proceeds from the cathode toward the anode during neutral gas breakdown. In addition, the nozzle release of neutral gas is modeled, and a simple linear spatial dependence of the applied potential is assumed. This basic model produces quite good results when compared to the experiment.

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The Arcing Rate for a High Voltage Solar Array: Theory and Experiments

Cited by 4 publications

References 6 publications

Flight Data Analysis for the Photovoltaic Array Space Power Plus Diagnostics Experiment

Flight Data Analysis for the Photovoltaic Array Space Power Plus Diagnostics Experiment

Arc Suppression Coatings for Electrodynamic Tethers and Spacecraft Cabling

Discharging spacecraft through neutral gas release: Experiment and theory

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