Lunar & Planetary Surface Power Management & Distribution

The next generation of planetary bases will have an increasing need for electrical power capability to support advancednbsp;communication equipment, life support systems, and scientific experimentation.nbsp; This power is expected to exceed the 100kWnbsp;range of the ISS, currently the highest power space-based electrical system in existence.nbsp; Power conversion is an importantnbsp;element in any large-scale electrical distribution system, required to control the flow of power and provide galvanic isolationnbsp;barriers to improve safety, robustness, and electromagnetic compatibility. The terrestrial power electronics industry is currentlynbsp;making dramatic improvements in power density and efficiency, through the use of wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductornbsp;technology.nbsp; Especially critical to planetary base applications, WBG semiconductors allow higher switching frequencies, therebynbsp;reducing the weight of an isolation transformer and enabling the target of gt;2kW/kg power density, as well as promising annbsp;inherently higher robustness against space radiation.nbsp;?Over the last five years, PCKA has employed WBG devices in power conversion applications with voltages ranging from 28ndash;750 Vdcnbsp;and power levels ranging from 2ndash;440 kW.nbsp; These applications have focused on military vehicle and aircraft power systems, whichnbsp;have many of the same objectives as a space-based application.nbsp; However, taking this technology into a planetary surface powernbsp;application requires overcoming challenges such as temperatures below ndash;100C, bombardment from space radiation, and thenbsp;harsh impact of dust and regolith.nbsp; Many of the state-of-the-art components utilized in the existing designs do not have directnbsp;radiation hardened substitutes and will require additional development and test. In this proposed effort, PCKA will adapt one ofnbsp;its WBG isolated dc/dc converters to meet the requirements of a planetary base application.nbsp;nbsp; This high-impact technology willnbsp;then be demonstrated over the course of the SBIR program.nbsp;