Use of solar cells for measuring temperature of solar cell blanket in spacecrafts

Solar cells are the sole power sources in earth bound satellites. Temperature of solar cell blanket is a very important parameter that needs to be measured accurately throughout the mission. The present arrangement measures solar panel temperature and not solar cell blanket temperature as needed. Solar cell temperature can be measured by using the change of its capacitance with temperature. A method to measure solar cell blanket temperature in the range −180 °C to +80 °C in space using solar cell itself has been explored here. Use of silicon BSR, gallium arsenide or multijunction cells has been presented. The method can accurately measure transient variation of solar cell blanket temperature.

► Solar cell blanket temperature is critical to its performance. ► A method to measure blanket temperature using solar cell capacitances is proposed. ► Usable in temperature range −180 °C to +80 °C and superior to existing methods.