Discharge Characteristics of a Simiulated Solar Cell Array

Measurements of the transient characteristics associated with the discharge of a simulated solar array are presented. A capacitively coupled probe is used to measure the discharge current, and antennas are used to measure the electromagnetic radiation. Discharges were observed at low surface voltages (< 3 kV) and several modes of discharge were observed. The maximum discharge current is found to be 0.2 A. This value is several orders of magnitude higher than that reported by previous measurements. Experimental evidence suggests that the inverted voltage gradient is a very likely triggering mechanism for solar array discharges.