LOW-COST PHOTOVOLTAIC EMULATOR WITH A HIGH-DYNAMIC RESPONSE FOR SMALL SATELLITE APPLICATIONS

Abstract

In recent years, growing interest from academic institutions and emerging countries in small satellite missions has led to a need for photovoltaic emulators (PVEs) during subsystem testing. Unfortunately, the market lacks suitable PVEs with adequate power and characteristics for these applications. To fill this gap, this proposal introduces a low-cost, flexible, and high-dynamic response PVE for testing small satellite subsystems. The proposed PVE includes an analog electronic circuit that amplifies the reference current-voltage (I-V) curve from a space reference solar cell. It is characterized by accurate amplification of solar cell curves under various conditions, achieving a maximum output power of 124 W. This capability enables assessment under diverse space application scenarios with rapidly changing climatic conditions. The emulator's remarkable flexibility is demonstrated through the use of various solar cell technologies for space applications as references. Experimental results effectively confirm the practical feasibility of the proposed PVE.