Numerical investigation of solar panel orientation for optimal power generation and drag performance on a VLEO satellite

• Main Author: Ling, Merrick Tong Le
• Other Authors: Chan Wai Lee
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Engineering; Numerical investigation; Power generation; Drag performance; VLEO satellite; Very low earth orbit; Solar panel orientation
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/176758
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This research paper delves into the field of small satellites (SmallSats) operations in the very low Earth orbit (VLEO) environment. With orbital altitudes ranging below 450km, the VLEO environment offers numerous advantages for satellite missions in the form of optimising mission performances, reducing overall mission costs, contributing to space sustainability efforts, and more. However, the rarefied atmosphere presents a significant challenge to the operational life of VLEO satellites, in the form of atmospheric drag. A critical aspect in the design of SmallSats that contributes to atmospheric drag is the orientation of the panel-mounted solar arrays via the satellite’s effective projected drag area. This prompts the research gap of a potential trade-off, where optimization for minimum drag could result in a solar panel orientation being suboptimal or unfavourable for solar power generation. As such, this research paper aims to provide useful numerical analysis, relating various satellite configurations to optimal power generation, aerodynamic performance, and orbital lifetime. Subsequently, recommendations can be provided to guide the design of SmallSats. To this end, SolidWorks and Gmsh were employed to generate mesh models based on a generic satellite design. Then, a test particle Monte Carlo (TPMC) solver was used to analyse the coefficient of drag ( ) for various satellite configurations. The outputs would then be surface-fitted with MATLAB to obtain representative equations before integration into FreeFlyer for orbital propagation.