Design of a Photovoltaic Power Supply for Nanosatellites

The objective of this paper is to present a multi-input, multi-output photovoltaic DC/DC-converter system that is equipped with a battery as energy storage. Furthermore, a specific control strategy is proposed, which allows individual MPP tracking with a reduced number of current and voltage sensors. Due to the system concept, a dedicated battery charge controller is not required. For proof of function, a simulation model is used. Gallium Nitride (GaN) HEMTs are used to increase the efficiency of the input stages. A hardware demonstrator board was built and efficiency measurements were performed.