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Modelling and preliminary thermal study of a fed-by-laser thermoelectric generator system on board of a 3U CubeSat

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Abstract

Wireless energy transfer (WET) devices using arrays of hybrid photo-thermoelectric plasmonic (HPTP) generators are under investigation to be a potential power source choice for CubeSats. This power generation system is based on the conversion of photon energy into electric energy via thermal gradients employing a large-range pulsed laser as source. During the study of the devices’ integration on board a 3U CubeSat, the thermal subsystem was identified as the most critical, and thus its study has a major relevance for the demonstration of the technology herein proposed. The methodology employed to characterize the HPTP generators within the CubeSat thermal model is shown in this paper. From here, we cover the influence of the most significant model parameters under a given operational case, as well as a comparison on the performance of different thermoelectric devices configurations. Overall, the results show a maximization of the power obtained with the circular cells configuration and a very small variation in the temperature field with changes in the most significant parameters in the ranges dictated by the European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) that enables high reliability on the results that could be obtained from the model, despite the uncertainty inherent in a sensitivity study at the early stages of the project development.

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Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are mainly in the document, but if any additional information is requested, it could be provided by mailing the correspondence author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AtlanTTic, Escuela de Ingeniería Aeronáutica y del Espacio, UniversidaddeVigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain

    Uxia Garcia-Luis, Fermin Navarro-Medina, Carlos Ulloa-Sande, Alejandro Gomez-San Juan & Guillermo Rey-Gonzalez

  2. Department of Physics and AstronomyFaculty of ScienceInstitute of Physics of Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology and Nanophotonics (IFIMUP), University of Porto, Rua Do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal

    Ana Pires, Margarida Maia & Mariana Rocha

  3. AtlanTTic, EscueladeIngenieríadeTelecomunicaciones, Universidad de Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain

    Fernando Aguado-Agelet

Authors
  1. Uxia Garcia-Luis
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  2. Fermin Navarro-Medina
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  3. Carlos Ulloa-Sande
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  5. Guillermo Rey-Gonzalez
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  7. Margarida Maia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fermin Navarro-Medina.

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Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and thermal analysis were performed by Uxia Garcia-Luis, Fermin NavarroMedina, and Carlos Ulloa-Sande. Vacuum chamber setup and tests were made by Ana Pires, Margarida Maia, and Mariana Rocha. The first drafts of the manuscript and first reviews were written by Uxia Garcia-Luis, Guillermo Rey-Gonzalez, and Alejandro M. Gomez-San Juan. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 863307, Ref. H2020FETOPEN-2018–2019-2020–01. This research was funded by FEDER through COMPETE 2020-POCI and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)/MCTES under Program PT2020 in the framework of the projects UID/NAN/50024/2019, NECL NORTE-01–0145-FEDER-022096. AMP and ALP thank the funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 863307. MMM is thankful to FCT for grant SFRH/BD/144229/2019.

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Garcia-Luis, U., Navarro-Medina, F., Ulloa-Sande, C. et al. Modelling and preliminary thermal study of a fed-by-laser thermoelectric generator system on board of a 3U CubeSat. CEAS Space J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-023-00528-6

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