Designing efficient Electric Power Supply System for Micro-Satellite

This paper discusses designing and implementation of an efficient Electric Power Supply System (EPS) for a Micro Satellite. Design and analysis of satellite different subsystems such as power generation, distribution and management, power storage, modules protection, bus voltage regulation and battery charging for micro-satellite have been discussed in detail. To perform all these duties whole EPS is divided into three units i.e. Solar Power Unit, Power Conditioning Unit and Power Distribution Unit. Each unit is an isolated system, has a local controller and standard inputs/outputs, connected with the Satellite main computer through standard buses (CAN buses) and can be attached/detached from the Satellite as separate unit. All the subsystems are based on Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) Components which were selected on the bases of small dimensions, low power consumption and lesser weight. Different techniques have been utilized for overall system size miniaturization and efficiency improvement i.e. the design solar panel converter is MPPT based. The main design criteria is modularity, redundancy, power efficient and scalability, simple as possible, avoid single component failure and maximum utilization of the existing heritage.