Power Charging Curves
For those who are interested in a more thorough analysis of how the solar cells charge over an orbit, we can go into depth using the aforementioned Wes Faler analysis. His simulation and calculation, running in full about five pages, is an excellent breakdown of the issues involved. His own note on it mentions “the calculations have been updated to use the AM0 space spectrum with a power density of 1366.1 W/m2 rather than AM1.5 spectrum (1000 W/m2) quoted on the solar cells for ground operation.” I’m presenting a summary of his analysis here, both to provide specific information on TubeSats and, more generally, to show how to analyze and simulate orbital conditions for a project.
Let’s break down his work into pieces. First, ...
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