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Satellites – Progress announced for the qualification of solar panels

Space environment specialists have introduced innovations in the analysis of electrostatic discharge propagation on full-scale panels.

In 2010, Onera conducted a test campaign, a worldwide first of its kind, subjecting a full-scale space solar panel to a large number of electrostatic discharges. The experiment, conducted in an IABG structure in Germany, showed the propagation of discharges to the entire solar panel. It also showed that a discharge can “jump” from one panel to another. These results, the first of their kind, will now be taken into account for the sizing of the devices used in the qualification of ground solar generators.

The preparation of solar panels at the IABG by Onera specialists for impact measurements of electrostatic discharges that are representative of the phenomena encountered in orbit.