An Adaptive MPPT Method for Electrical Power System of CubeSats based on Real-Time Temperature

The temperature is an important factor affecting the output performance of solar arrays. To maintain a high efficiency under long term use, the power control in the electrical power system (EPS) of CubeSats utilizes the solution based on maximum power point tracking (MPPT) instead of direct energy transfer (DET). The MPPT method is optimized based on the real-time temperature of solar arrays. Considering the damage of temperature sensor circuit, this work describes an adaptive method with two tracking strategies of bat algorithm (BA). The algorithm runs on the lower computer of EPS and does not require an additional controller. Two strategies of BA achieve average efficiencies of 98.15% and 96.68% in the simulation, respectively, while the standard BA achieves 95.15%. The effectiveness of the adaptive MPPT method has been analyzed in simulations when a possible damage to the measurement circuit occurs.