Characterization of a TS-Space quad-source solar simulator

Author

Montgomery, Kyle H. ; Wilt, David M. ; Howard, Alex ; Williams, Bill, Sr. ; Williams, Bill, Jr.

Author_Institution

Space Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Res. Lab., Kirtland AFB, NM, USA

fYear

2012

fDate

3-8 June 2012

Abstract

We present a thorough evaluation of a first-of-its-kind quad-source AM 0 solar simulator developed by TS-Space Systems and installed at the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate in Kirtland AFB, NM. With an underlying need to evaluate more complex and advanced space photovoltaics, the TS-Space Unisim 100 was chosen as replacement to the Spectrolab X-25. Several parameters of the Unisim were characterized including spectral irradiance, lamp stability (long-term and short-term), spatial uniformity, and repeatability. In addition, the impact of test plane translation due to variable cell holders was studied. The potential impact of AC input voltage to lamp ballast was also investigated. Further, comparisons are made to the X-25. Finally, operational considerations for the use of a multi-source simulator are discussed.

Keywords

lamp accessories; solar cells; space vehicle power plants; stability; AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate; Kirtland AFB; NM; TS-space quad-source solar simulator; Unisim; cell holders; lamp ballast; lamp stability; multisource simulator; space photovoltaics; spatial repeatability; spatial uniformity; spectral irradiance; test plane translation; Computer architecture; Junctions; Lighting; Space vehicles; Stability analysis; Standards; Temperature measurement; current-voltage characteristics; gallium compounds; indium gallium arsenide; light sources; photovoltaic cells;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2012 38th IEEE

Conference_Location

Austin, TX

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-0064-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2012.6317884

Filename

6317884