TY - GEN
T1 - The evaluation of solder and circuit board materials for small satellite solar cell arrays
AU - Lumpp, Janet K.
AU - Lumpp, James E.
AU - Erb, Daniel M.
AU - Torabi, N. Meetra
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Body mounted germanium substrate solar cell arrays form the faces of many small satellite designs to provide the primary power source on orbit. 1,2 High efficiency cells are made affordable for University scale satellite programs as triangular devices trimmed from wafer scale solar cells. The smaller cells allow the array designs to pack tightly around antenna mounts and payload instruments. We are investigating the reliability of solar cells attached to FR-4 and carbon core laminate printed circuit boards. FR-4 circuit boards have significantly higher thermal expansion coefficients and lower thermal conductivities than germanium; whereas carbon core laminates can be selected to more closely match the device substrate. We are also comparing various solder pastes and cleaning processes for array assembly. Storage, vacuum exposure, thermal cycling and vibration testing will be used to compare the survivability and performance of the solar arrays.
AB - Body mounted germanium substrate solar cell arrays form the faces of many small satellite designs to provide the primary power source on orbit. 1,2 High efficiency cells are made affordable for University scale satellite programs as triangular devices trimmed from wafer scale solar cells. The smaller cells allow the array designs to pack tightly around antenna mounts and payload instruments. We are investigating the reliability of solar cells attached to FR-4 and carbon core laminate printed circuit boards. FR-4 circuit boards have significantly higher thermal expansion coefficients and lower thermal conductivities than germanium; whereas carbon core laminates can be selected to more closely match the device substrate. We are also comparing various solder pastes and cleaning processes for array assembly. Storage, vacuum exposure, thermal cycling and vibration testing will be used to compare the survivability and performance of the solar arrays.
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U2 - 10.1109/AERO.2010.5446720
DO - 10.1109/AERO.2010.5446720
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77952836657
SN - 9781424438884
T3 - IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings
BT - 2010 IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings
T2 - 2010 IEEE Aerospace Conference
Y2 - 6 March 2010 through 13 March 2010
ER -