An improved model for available solar energy on Mars: Optimizing solar panel orientation to assess potential spacecraft landing sites

Abstract

Solar energy is an important source of power for Mars surface missions. We utilize the output of a 1D radiative transfer algorithm to investigate the optimal orientation of static, tilted solar panels across the planet and compare their available energy to that of sun-tracking panels. Tilted static solar panels can collect up to 8.5 times as much solar energy as horizontal static panels, dependent on surface location and time of year. Static panels at optimal elevation angles and azimuthal pointing for their location were found to receive at minimum 53% of the solar energy available to sun-tracking panels. The effects of angled and sun-tracking solar panels were found to be most beneficial in the polar regions. A system that could alter its orientation even just a few times a year would be able to take advantage of a significant increase in power, evening out the available energy per sol for equatorial landing sites and reducing the solar panel area needed for overwintering in mid-latitude and polar areas. The outputs produced by our model provide useful information on the available energy for a variety of possible solar panel orientations for use in cost-benefit analyses of sun-tracking panels as well as the estimation of available power for Mars surface missions during the mission planning stage.