Output performance analyses of solar array on stratospheric airship with thermal effect

•A model investigating the output power of solar array is proposed.•The output power in the cruise condition with thermal effect is researched.•The effect of some factors on output performance is discussed in detail.•A suitable transmissivity of external layer is crucial in preliminary design step.

Output performance analyses of the solar array are very critical for solving the energy problem of a long endurance stratospheric airship, and the solar cell efficiency is very sensitive to temperature of the solar cell. But the research about output performance of solar array with thermal effect is rare. This paper outlines a numerical model including the thermal model of airship and solar cells, the incident solar radiation model on the solar array, and the power output model. Based on this numerical model, a MATLAB computer program is developed. In the course of the investigation, the comparisons of the simulation results with and without considering thermal effect are reported. Furthermore, effects of the transmissivity of external encapsulation layer of solar array and wind speed on the thermal performance and output power of solar array are discussed in detail. The results indicate that this method is helpful for planning energy management.