Lightweight Reusable Solar Array For Balloons

We will discuss a new lightweight reusable solar array system, dubbed HighPower, which is being developed for the Ultra-Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) program using NASA/SBIR funding, but which is also applicable to other balloon systems. The system uses a vertically deployed stack of panels suspended from their corners by cables. The stack act likes a two-dimensional Venetian blind. By raising and lowering opposite corners, the array of parallel panels can be pointed over most of the upper hemisphere. This allows the panels to remain normal to the sun despite the slow rotation of the gondola and without requiring rotation of the system (no slip rings) or heavy cantilevered rotation joints. The system is sized to generate 2000 W using six 2m x 2m panels. The modularity of the system allows panels to be added or removed to tailored the power to the needs of the mission. Prior to cut -down of the balloon, the panels can be retracted and stowed compactly in the lower part of the gondola. This will protect the array during landing, allowing the array to be reused on subsequent flights.