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The arcing rate for a High Voltage Solar Array - Theory, experiment and predictionsAll solar arrays have biased surfaces which can be exposed to the space environment. It has been observed that when the array bias is less than a few hundred volts negative then the exposed conductive surfaces may undergo arcing in the space plasma. A theory for arcing is developed on these high voltage solar arrays which ascribes the arcing to electric field runaway at the interface of the plasma, conductor and solar cell dielectric. Experiments were conducted in the laboratory for the High Voltage Solar Array (HVSA) experiment which will fly on the Japanese Space Flyer Unit (SFU) in 1994. The theory was compared in detail to the experiment and shown to give a reasonable explanation for the data. The combined theory and ground experiments were then used to develop predictions for the SFU flight.
Document ID
19920044359
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Hastings, Daniel E.
(NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Cho, Mengu
(MIT Cambridge, MA, United States)
Kuninaka, Hitoshi
(Institute of Space and Astronautical Science Sagamihara, Japan)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1992
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
AIAA PAPER 92-0576
Accession Number
92A26983
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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