Electrostatically Clean Solar Array (ESCA) System

ATK Space Systems (formerly AEC-Able Engineering Company, Inc.)

Goleta, CA

A low cost and low mass Electrostatically Clean Solar Array (ESCA) which will not interfere with sensitive measurements

• ATK has successfully developed and tested two innovative electrostatically clean solar array (ESCA) solutions
  
• The first design uses conductive silicone adhesive grout, which is grounded to the panel core, to electrically connect the ITO coated coverglass on the front of the cells and create an external ground plane
  
• The second design uses aluminized Kapton tape grounded to the panel core to seal circuitry, electrically connect the ITO coverglass, and create an external ground plane

• Electrostatically Clean Solar Array (ESCA) technology, meeting NASA’s requirements for extremely low surface charging, was developed, fabricated, and tested during Phase 2 to ready this technology for commercialization and use on future NASA missions
  
• The ESCA systems developed use flight proven materials and processes to create ESCA technologies that yields low cost, low mass, high reliability, high power density, and are adaptable to most cell types and coverglass thicknesses

• Environmental testing by ATK consisting of 12 LEO thermal vacuum cycles, 15,000 ambient pressure LEO thermal cycles, and 1,350 ambient pressure GEO thermal cycles
  
• All four ESCA panel configurations proved to be durable in thermal cycle testing with some designs proving to be reliable only for short LEO missions and others showing promise for both long LEO and long GEO missions
  
• As a result of this successful program, two relatively inexpensive, lightweight, and reliable ESCA designs have been developed and readied for use on future NASA missions
  

Return to NASA SBIR Success Listings

Manufacturing/Fabrication; Space Systems

Curator: SBIR Support                  07/20/06