2020 Project Competition at the Electrical Engineering Department, NIU – First Place🥇

2020 Project Competition at the Electrical Engineering Department, National Ilan University

Nano Satellite Solar Power System with MPPT using Wide Bandgap Devices

We won first place!!!!!!

The use of nano satellites is increasingly in both academia and industry, performing missions that previously required larger satellites. Nano satellites are important applications for space that require a power system that is small and high efficiency. In nano satellites, solar panels are the primary power source, and an electrical maximum power point (MPP) tracking (MPPT) scheme is vital to optimizing power generated by the solar panels to quickly charge the system’s battery. A solar module comprises a number of solar cells that are connected in series or parallel. In this case, two strings of solar cells that receive different amounts of light are connected in parallel. After preliminary analysis and testing, we proposed a nano satellite power system that utilizes GaN switches for high efficiency and high power density.

We reported the analysis, design, and results of the ECIE nano satellite power system developed by the team at National Ilan University. We covered the analysis of the PV panels, the operation of the system under the different operating modes, and GaN device analysis. The focus of our design was first on high power density and second on efficiency. Our team’s design was fully functioning and achieved a maximum efficiency of over 95%.