Thermal Design of Photovoltaic/Microwave Conversion Hybrid Panel for Space Solar Power System

This paper describes the thermal design of a photovoltaic/microwave conversion hybrid panel for a tethered solar power satellite (SPS). A practical configuration of the hybrid panel with a sandwich structure was designed, and its thermal characteristics were unveiled. The thermal resistance of the panel was experimentally measured and used for a realistic simulation. The daily temperature variation of the designed panel and thermal deformation of the antenna surface during the SPS operation were simulated. The results show that the present panel satisfies the design requirements for the panel weight and deformation of the antenna surface; however, the power amplifier temperature exceeds the lower limit of the design requirements. As a solution to this problem, a spectrally selective coating on solar cell surface was examined as a passive temperature control method. The fabricated multilayer selective coating showed a significant temperature increase, demonstrating the feasibility of the present thermal design.