DEVELOPMENT OF A PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATOR FOR THE OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE SOLAR POWER SYSTEM

AN INNOVATIVE SOLAR POWER GENERATION CONCEPT NAMED OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE (OW) SOLAR POWER SYSTEM IS PROPOSED. IN THIS SYSTEM SOLAR RADIATION IS COLLECTED BY CONCENTRATOR PANEL CONSISTING OF A MATRIX OF LENSES OR MIRRORS. THE OW CONSISTING OF OPTICAL FIBERS AND OTHER OPTICAL COMPONENTS TRANSFERS THE CONCENTRATED SOLAR RADIATION TO A CENTRAL LOCATION WHERE THE SOLAR POWER IS CONVERTED TO ELECTRICITY OR OTHER FORMS OF USEFUL POWER WITHIN A SHIELDED ENCLOSURE. THE FLEXIBLE OW LINKAGE ALLOWS THE CONVERTER TO BE PLACED AT THE LOCATION WHICH IS BEST SUITED FOR EFFICIENT POWER GENERATION AND SECURELY PROTECTED AGAINST HOSTILE SPACE ENVIRONMENTS. AN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH PROGRAM PERTAINING TO THE BASIC FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WAS RECENTLY INITIATED UNDER AFAL SUPPORT. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE TIMELY DEVELOPMENT OF THIS UNIQUE CONCEPT, WE PROPOSE A PROGRAM TO DEVELOP A PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) POWER GENERATOR FOR THE OW SOLAR POWER SYSTEM. THE SCOPE OF THE PHASE I IS TO ESTABLISH THE DATABASE, OPTIMIZE THE COMPONENT PERFORMANCE, CONCEPTUALIZE AND EVALUATE THE PV POWER GENERATOR SYSTEM DESIGN. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH WILL PERTAIN TO SPACECRAFT POWER REQUIREMENTS, PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF PV CELLS, CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF PV GENERATOR, EVALUATION OF PV GENERATOR AND PROOF OF PRINCIPLE MODEL DESIGN.