This paper describes the solar array requirements and its design challenges, and the qualification tests completed to verify the design's ability to operate during cruise, orbit insertion and provide electrical power for 2 years in Mars orbit. The key requirements are 1) meets EOL power required for operations of the science payloads and spacecraft using a total of 4 solar panels (area of 15.7 m2) and 2) meets the maximum magnetic field emitted by the on/off switching of the solar array circuits to the sub-nano Tesla level. Special front side cell layout and backside wiring design guideline was required to lower the magnetic signature of the solar cell circuits to not interfere with a magnetometer science payload installed at the end of the deployed solar array. Design solutions for meeting the electrical power and magnetic cleanliness requirements involve the use of Emcore Corp's 3~(rd) generation triple junction, ZTJ, Luna-shaped solar cells. The ZTJ solar cells were qualified per AIAA-S-111-2005 standard in 2009. Qualification at the solar panel level for MAVEN involved using ZTJ cells bonded to composite substrates and flight-like backside wiring for magnetic self-cancellation. Qualification tests of the solar panel involved a small scale coupon subjected to 2X life thermal cycling and flight-size panel subjected to 24 hour bake-out and 8 thermal cycles in a vacuum environment to protoflight temperatures. Pre and post-environmental electrical performance tests measured at ambient temperature and at the maximum operating temperatures while in vacuum verifies the ability of the solar panels to operate as designed in the MAVEN environment.
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