simpleSolarPanel#

Executive Summary#

This module provides first-order modeling of power generation from an attitude and orbitally coupled solar panel. Specifically, it:

Evaluates the impact of shadowing using an assigned EclipseMsgPayload
Computes power generation using a cosine law based on the panel area, efficiency, and attitude
Allows for the panel body-fixed orientation nHat_B, the panel area, and the panel efficiency to be set via setPanelParameters().
Writes out a PowerNodeUsageMsgPayload describing its power generation.

Power generation is computed according to SMAD:

\[W_{out} = W_{base} * C_{eclipse} * C_{panel} * (\hat{n}\cdot \hat{s}) A_{panel}\]

where \(W_{base}\) is the base power (in \(\mbox{W}/\mbox{m}^2\)) at the spacecraft location from the sun, \(C_{eclipse}\) is the eclipse/penumbra mitigator on the sun’s power (1 corresponds to no shadow, 0 corresponds to eclipse), \(C_{panel}\) represents the panel’s efficiency at converting solar energy into electrical energy, \((\hat{n}\cdot \hat{s})\) represents the alignment between the panel’s normal vector and the spaceraft-sun unit vector, and \(A_{panel}\) represents the panel area in meters squared.

For more information on how to set up and use this module, see the simple power system example: scenarioPowerDemo

Module Assumptions and Limitations#

This module only uses the input and output messages of the PowerNodeBase base class. Further, the module does not include any self-shadowing in the solar panel power generation evaluation.

Message Connection Descriptions#

The following table lists additional module input messages beyond those specified in PowerNodeBase.

Module I/O Messages#
Msg Variable Name	Msg Type	Description
sunInMsg	SpicePlanetStateMsgPayload	Describes sun position
stateInMsg	SCStatesMsgPayload	Describes spacecraft position, attitude.
sunEclipseInMsg	EclipseMsgPayload	(optional) Describes shadow factor due to planetary bodies.

User Guide#

This module inherits the user guide from the PowerNodeBase base class. Module specific instructions include:

must connect sunInMsg and stateInMsg input messages
the sunEclipseInMsg message is optional. If provided the modules uses the eclipse shadow factor to adjust the power generation if needed.
must specify the variables panelArea, panelEfficiency and nHat_B. These there parameters can also be set at the same time through setPanelParameters(nHat_B, panelArea, panelEfficiency)

For more information on how to set up and use this module, see the simple power system example: scenarioPowerDemo

Class SimpleSolarPanel#

class SimpleSolarPanel : public PowerNodeBase#

simple solar panel class

Public Functions

void customreset(uint64_t CurrentClock)#: custom solar panel reset function

void setPanelParameters(Eigen::Vector3d nHat_B, double panelArea, double panelEfficiency)#

This method allows for solar panel parameters to be set.

Parameters:

nHat_B – The normal vector of the solar panel expressed in the spacecraft body frame.
panelArea – the spacecraft panel area in meters squared.
panelEfficiency – The efficiency of the solar panel in nondimensional units; typically ranges from 0.1 to 0.5.

Returns:

void

Public Members

ReadFunctor<SpicePlanetStateMsgPayload> sunInMsg#: [-] sun data input message

ReadFunctor<SCStatesMsgPayload> stateInMsg#: [-] spacecraft state input message

ReadFunctor<EclipseMsgPayload> sunEclipseInMsg#: [-] Messun eclipse state input message

double panelArea#: [m^2] Panel area in meters squared.

double panelEfficiency#: [W/W] Panel efficiency in converting solar energy to electrical energy.

Eigen::Vector3d nHat_B#: [-] Panel normal unit vector relative to the spacecraft body frame.

BSKLogger bskLogger#: — BSK Logging