Design, Control, and Power Management of Small Satellite Microgrids

A significant boost in the interest in space exploration has emerged within the last decades by different sectors of the society among scientists, governments, and commercial organizations. Whereas the present-day efforts for low Earth orbit to Moon, Mars, and deep space explorations the satellite industry has recorded an incredible growth, particularly in the class of small satellites (Small Sat). Within this class, among Mini-, Micro-, and Nanosatellites, an incredible expansion has been recorded in Cube Satellite (CubeSat), owing to less volume and sizes, cheap cost, and least development time. The SmallSat is launch to space for scientific research, remote sensing, high-resolution imagery, ship tracking and aeroplane tracking, etc. These nano-satellites form the basis of separated clusters working on a single sub system. These subsystems comprise the communication link (COMM), Attitude Controls (ADCS) for satellite stabilization, on-board data handling (OBDH), scientific payloads and of course, the electrical power system (EPS). In this sense, the EPS is the perfect example of a microgrid with distributed energy resources which is the holistic lifeline of the other subsystems in the satellite. In fact, many space missions have failed due to the lack of proper coordination of each of the components in the satellite e.g. solar array, batteries, power control units, etc., which are prone to short circuits, a malfunction in communication systems and overall system failures.

In this PhD project, coordinated control design and energy management of microgrid-based SmallSat will be proposed. The proposed system will aim to achieve high power density, high efficiency, reliability and cost-effectiveness. During this study, a theoretical analysis will be verified, and experimental prototypes will be built up at the Microgrid research facilities.

Funding: Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology Khuzdar Pakistan and Department of Energy Technology, AAU.