Design of an energy efficient PV stand-alone power supply unit for a residential-based CubeSat ground station

This paper addresses the concern of the lack of reliability; efficiency; and power losses of many photovoltaic standalone power supply systems caused by the different elements of the power supply system and varied power ratings. There exists a need for load demand matching with generator output, and the possible variability of the load which introduces further inefficiency was considered. The study involved accurate determination of the energy demand of the load to be powered; in this case a CubeSat ground station with a demand of 240Vac, 13.8Vdc and a current of 30A was used. This energy demand, power budget of the load, the satellite access time and the solar irradiation data were used in mathematical analysis of the ratings of the PV systems elements. The analysed ratings were used to design a circuit, which was used to study the systems behaviour. It was found that the circuit output matched the energy demand of the load rather well. The design implementation of this circuit for any domestic installation will result in more efficient and reliable power supply unit for any specific load.