The Messenger Spacecraft Solar Array Design and Early Mission Performance

Dakermanji, G.; Jenkins, J.; Ercol, Carl J.

doi:10.1109/wcpec.2006.279872

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…As an example of a mission with solar panels designed to operate at high solar flux using the technique of limiting the incident flux to the array and modifying solar absorption α, the "MESSENGER" mission to orbit Mercury 14 has designed an array with mirrored optical surface reflectors covering replacing approximately 70% of the solar cells across the surface area of the array 15 . These panels reflect 70% of the incident solar energy, and hence reduce the operating temperature.…”

Section: Messenger Array: An Approach To Solar Arrays For a Near mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mirrors incorporate a high-emissivity silica coating, allowing efficient thermal radiation. These panels have operated (at the first Mercury fly-by) at distance of 0.4 AU from the sun 15 , and have been qualified in thermal vacuum testing to be capable of operating as close as 0.25 AU from the sun, at an intensity of 16 times the intensity at Earth orbit 16 . The arrays use off-pointing to reduce the incident intensity at Mercury; however, the arrays were designed to tolerate the full on-sun thermal regime, in the case of a pointing failure.…”

Section: Messenger Array: An Approach To Solar Arrays For a Near mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Solar Power System Design for the Solar Probe+ Mission

Landis

Schmitz²,

Kinnison

et al. 2008

6th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference (IECEC)

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Solar Probe+ is an ambitious mission proposed to the solar corona, designed to make a perihelion approach of 9 solar radii from the surface of the sun. The high temperature, high solar flux environment makes this mission a significant challenge for power system design. This paper summarizes the power system conceptual design for the solar probe mission. Power supplies considered included nuclear, solar thermoelectric generation, solar dynamic generation using Stirling engines, and solar photovoltaic generation. The solar probe mission ranges from a starting distance from the sun of 1 AU, to a minimum distance of about 9.5 solar radii, or 0.044 AU, from the center of the sun. During the mission, the solar intensity ranges from one to about 510 times AM0. This requires power systems that can operate over nearly three orders of magnitude of incident intensity. NomenclatureA r = Radiator area (m 2 ) I = incident intensity (W/m 2 ) P electric = power generated (W) R s = solar radius (696 000 km) T = temperature (K) Th = hot-end temperature of thermal conversion system (K) Tc = cold-end temperature of thermal conversion system (K) α = solar absorptivity (equal to 1 minus the reflectivity) ε f ,ε r = thermal (IR) emissivity of the front and rear surfaces η = conversion efficiency σ = Stefan-Boltzmann constant, 5.67×10

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Section: Messenger Array: An Approach To Solar Arrays For a Near mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Messenger Array: An Approach To Solar Arrays For a Near mentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Power System Design for the Solar Probe+ Mission

Landis

Schmitz²,

Kinnison

et al. 2008

6th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference (IECEC)

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“…• Spectrally-selective reflective coatings • Solar cells designed to operate at high temperature, with low temperature coefficient κ • Solar arrays incorporating added thermal radiators As an example of a mission with solar panels designed to operate at high solar flux using the technique of limiting the incident flux to the array and modifying solar absorption α, the "MESSENGER" mission to orbit Mercury [8] has designed an array with mirrored panels to reflect 7-% of the incident solar energy to limit operating temperature [9,10]. The mirrors incorporate a highemissivity silica coating, allowing efficient thermal radiation.…”

Section: Approaches To Solar Arrays For Near Sun Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar power for near-sun, high-temperature missions

Landis

2008

2008 33rd IEEE Photovolatic Specialists Conference

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Existing solar cells lose performance at the high temperatures encountered in Mercury orbit and inward toward the sun. For future missions designed to probe environments close to the sun, it is desirable to develop array technologies for high temperature and high light intensity. Approaches to solar array design for near-sun missions include modifying the terms governing temperature of the cell and the efficiency at elevated temperature, or use of techniques to reduce the incident solar energy to limit operating temperature. An additional problem is found in missions that involve a range of intensities, such as the Solar Probe + mission, which ranges from a starting distance of 1 AU from the sun to a minimum distance of 9.5 solar radii, or 0.044 AU. During the mission, the solar intensity ranges from one to about 500 times AM0. This requires a power system to operate over nearly three orders of magnitude of incident intensity. MISSIONSExtending the temperature range of operation for solar arrays is highly desirable for extending the range of operation of space missions to the near-sun environment [1][2][3]. Achieving high-efficiency and reliable operation in these temperature regimes is a difficult technological challenge.Existing solar cells suffer significant performance loss at the high temperatures encountered in Mercury orbit and near the sun.An example of such a mission is the Solar Probe+ spacecraft [4], shown in Figure 1. This is a mission designed to probe the solar corona and the near-sun environment from an approach distance as close as 9.5 solar radii, or 0.044 Astronomical Units (AU). During the mission, the solar intensity is ranges from one to about 510 times AM0 [5]. This requires a power system that can operate over nearly three orders of magnitude of incident intensity.

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“…In addition, solar cells for space environments also encounter high operating temperatures. Typical solar module temperatures for Earth orbit missions are typically in excess of 60 °C , and missions to investigate the solar system in close proximity to the Sun, such as the BepiColombo and Messenger missions, result in cell temperatures well in excess of 200 °C. In this paper, we compare the performance of InP‐based bulk TJs and QWTJs between room temperature and 220 °C and aim to understand the performance degradation mechanisms affecting the tunnel junctions at high temperatures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High temperature current-voltage characteristics of InP-based tunnel junctions

Lumb

González

Yakes

et al. 2014

Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl.

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In this paper, we present temperature-dependent current-voltage measurements of tunnel junctions lattice matched to InP at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 220°C. Temperature-dependent tunneling properties were extracted by fitting the current-voltage characteristics using a simple analytical formula. Three different designs of tunnel junction were characterized, including a bulk InAlGaAs tunnel junction, an InAlGaAs tunnel junction with InAlAs cladding layers and an InGaAs/InAlGaAs quantum-well tunnel junction. Each device exhibited different temperature dependence in peak tunnel current and excess current, with the quantum-well tunnel junction exhibiting the greatest temperature sensitivity. We use a non-local tunneling model, in conjunction with a numerical drift-diffusion solver, to explain the performance improvement available by using double heterostructure cladding layers around the junction region, and use the same model to explain the observed temperature dependence of the devices.

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The Messenger Spacecraft Solar Array Design and Early Mission Performance

Cited by 15 publications

References 2 publications

Solar Power System Design for the Solar Probe+ Mission

Solar Power System Design for the Solar Probe+ Mission

Solar power for near-sun, high-temperature missions

High temperature current-voltage characteristics of InP-based tunnel junctions

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