Analysis of solar panel orientation in low altitude satellites

Abstract

The computation of the optimal orientation of solar panels which are fixed to the body of the satellite, from the point of view of average power, is presented. In practical cases, some of the parameters which determine the optimal orientation vary during the lifetime of the satellite. In these cases we compute a worst case optimum, which maximizes the average power in the worst case situation. Finally, an application of these procedures to an Earth observation satellite is performed.