50 KWE SPACE POWER CONDITIONER

SPACE POWER INC. HAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED A 10 -30 V INPUT DC/DC POWER CONDITIONER WITH A 10:1 VOLTAGE STEP-UP RATIO, WHICH HAS A POWER CAPACITY TO MASS RATIO (LOW SPECIFIC MASS) THAT IS A SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT OVER THE STATE-OF-THE-ART. ADDITIONAL OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF THIS DESIGN ARE ITS ABILITY TO OPERATE AT HIGH TEMPERATURES AND IN RADIATION FIELDS FOR USE WITH NUCLEAR POWERED SPACE CRAFT OR OPERATION IN VAN ALLEN BELTS. THIS SUCCESSFUL PROJECT WAS JUDGED AS A "BREAKTHROUGH" BY THE SP-100 ORGANIZATION, AND THE SECOND PHASE OF THIS WORK IS NOW STARTING WITH CONTINUED SPONSORSHIP BY USAF. IN MULTIMEGAWATT APPLICATIONS, THE POWER CONDITIONER INPUT VOLTAGE WILL BE IN THE RANGE OF 100 TO 200 VDC FROM DIRECT CONVERSION THERMIONIC, FUEL CELL AND HIGH ENERGY BATTERY STEADY STATE AND "BURST" POWER SYSTEMS. HIGHER DC VOLTAGE ARE ALSO BEING ATTEMPTED IN LARGE SOLAR ARRAYS. THIS PROPOSAL PROVIDES A NEW MEANS OF APPLYING THE "BREAKTHROUGH" CURRENT SHARING PRINCIPLE TO A NEW CLASS OF SEMICONDUCTORS THAT ARE PARTICULARLY SUITED TO HIGHER OPERATING VOLTAGE, POWER AND TEMPERATURE. AS A RESULT, SPECIFIC MASS TO LESS THAN 0.1 KG/KWE WILL BE ACHIEVED.