Advanced Solar Panel Concentrator Experiment (ASPaCE)

摘要

The US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is beginning Phase II development for the Advanced Solar Panel Concentrator Experiment (ASPaCE). Phase I showed that flexible thin film reflectors can work successfully in a deployable trough concentrator. Thin film reflectors add several advantages to this concentrator including compact stowage, increased power from conventional fold-out solar panels, and solar cell exposure during orbit transfer. Testing on a proof-of-concept model has been completed (Phase I) and correlation to a large scale flight model is under way. In Phase II a large scale reflector of the order of 6 meters by 2.5 meters is being built for deployment and deformation testing and a flight quality array is being designed.