Arcing Test on an Aged Grouted Solar Cell Coupon With a Realistic Flashover Simulator

We have performed arcing tests on an aged grouted solar cell coupon provided by Kyutu Institute of technology (Japan) under New Energy and Industrial Development Organization (Japan) grant. Aging is simulated by electrons, protons, and UV irradiations combined with thermal cycling, corresponding to 10 years in the geostationary orbit. Arcing tests are performed with a European standard setup implemented with two different flashover simulators. Instead of using a large capacitance corresponding to the missing solar panel surface, we have implemented two more realistic devices: a 2.4-m
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Kapton surface charged in an inverted potential gradient mode, which releases an average flashover current of 6-A peak at 200 μs and RLC circuit, deduced from the European Etude et Modelisation des Arcs sur Generateur Solaire study (large flashover on an 8-m
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solar array panel). This circuit is connected between the solar array simulator (SAS) line and the surrounding environment with a ringshape electrode, which releases an adaptable flashover current of 5-A peak during 600 μs (average values). The results present the occurrence of different arc types versus current/voltage SAS values. A comparison is made with other tests, on a similar coupon, performed by U.S. and Japanese laboratories and also with comparable coupons without grouting.