JP2000150946A - Solar cell panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inhibit the quantity of change of a thermal excitation bending moment to the support member of a solar cell panel, and to reduce bending vibrations to the panel as a whole. SOLUTION: In a solar cell panel 1 provided with a support member 2 having a plurality of solar cells 3 on a surface plate 2, reinforcing members 4 are mounted on a rear plate 2c of the member 2, these members 4 respectively have mounting parts (a mounting surface 5a and a flange part 6b) to the plate 2c of the member 2 and comprises two inner and outer reinforcing members 5 and 6 which come into contact with each other and the reinforcing member 5, on at least one side of both of these reinforcing members 5 and 6 is formed of a heat conductive member.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solar cell panel suitable for use in supplying power to a spacecraft such as an artificial satellite.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a solar cell panel of this kind includes:
2. Description of the Related Art There is known a device including a support member made of an insulator and a plurality of solar cells mounted on the support member and arranged in parallel in a vertical and horizontal direction. In order to mount such a solar cell panel on an artificial satellite, for example, a plurality of solar cell panels are used. Each of these solar cell panels is connected by a hinge or the like, and is attached to the satellite body so as to be deployable and foldable.

Conventionally, this type of solar cell panel is configured as shown in FIG. 3, and employs a supporting member having a honeycomb structure. For this solar panel,
Describing with reference to the figure, the solar cell panel indicated by reference numeral 31 in the figure includes a support member 32 and a solar cell 33. The support member 32 has a core member 32a having a hexagonal honeycomb structure, and a front plate 32b and a back plate 32c that sandwich the core member 32a. The photovoltaic cells 33 are composed of a large number of cells arranged in a plane (front surface) vertically and horizontally and are mounted on the front side of the support member 32.

By the way, this type of solar cell panel is mounted on, for example, an artificial satellite as a spacecraft, launched into space with the artificial satellite, and placed on the orbit of the artificial satellite. In such a solar cell panel, a bending moment is excited by a temperature difference between the front and back of the panel. The value of the thermal excitation bending moment differs greatly between when sunlight enters the solar cell panel (during sunshine) and when there is no sunlight obstructed by the earth (during shading).

[0005] In particular, the transition from sunshine to shade or from shade to sunshine is short, and in this case, the thermal excitation bending moment changes abruptly, and as a result, bending vibration occurs in the entire solar cell panel. I do. This vibration becomes a disturbance input to the satellite and degrades the attitude stability,
It is desirable to reduce as much as possible in earth observation satellites and the like that require strict attitude stability.

[0006]

However, in the conventional solar cell panel, the thickness of the support member 32 is set to be relatively large because the reinforcing structure needs to be enhanced. Surface plate (cell side plate) 32b
When sunlight enters the surface plate 32b and the back plate 32
A large temperature difference occurred between c. As a result, the amount of change in the thermal excitation bending moment with respect to the support member 32 increases, and accordingly, there is a problem that bending vibration of the entire panel increases.

Prior arts are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-118199 and Japanese Patent No. 2606105 as a "solar cell paddle" and a "solar cell panel device", respectively. The former includes a substrate as a support member to which a plurality of solar cells are attached, and a reinforcing member attached to the substrate and integrally molded with a vibration damping material and a composite material. There is provided a honeycomb plate as a support member having a plurality of solar cells formed on the surface thereof, and a cross-girder reinforcing member formed by alternately stacking a composite material and a vibration damping sheet attached to the back surface of the honeycomb plate. It is provided with.

Therefore, in both cases, the supporting member can be reinforced by the reinforcing member. However, when sunlight is incident on the front side of the supporting member, the space between the front and back surfaces of the supporting member, between the supporting member and the reinforcing member, and the reinforcing member. A large temperature difference easily occurs between the inside and outside of the member, so that the amount of change in the thermally excited bending moment generated in the substrate increases.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is possible to suppress the amount of change in the bending moment caused by thermal excitation with respect to the support member, thereby reducing the bending vibration on the entire panel. To provide panels.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a solar cell panel including a support member having a plurality of solar cells on a surface side. A reinforcing member is attached to the back surface side of the support member, and the reinforcing member has an attachment portion for the back surface of the support member, and includes two inner and outer reinforcing members that are in contact with each other, and at least one of these two reinforcing members. The reinforcing member is formed by a heat conductive member. Therefore, the supporting member is reinforced by the reinforcing member, and good heat transfer is performed between the supporting member and the reinforcing member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the solar cell panel according to the first aspect, of the two reinforcing members, the inner reinforcing member is formed of a pitch-based carbon fiber composite material, and the outer reinforcing member is a pan-based carbon fiber composite material. Is formed. Therefore, good heat transfer between the inside and outside reinforcement members and the support member is performed by the inside reinforcement member, and good reinforcement of the support member is performed by the outside reinforcement member.

The invention described in claim 3 is the first or second invention.
In the solar cell panel described above, a heat conductive adhesive is interposed between both reinforcing members and between the supporting member and each reinforcing member. Therefore, good heat transfer between the two reinforcing members and between the supporting member and each reinforcing member is performed by the heat conductive adhesive.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the solar cell panel according to the first, second, or third aspect, the inner reinforcing member is formed of a rectangular cylinder. Therefore, the square surface as the mounting portion of the inner reinforcing member comes into contact with the back surface of the support member.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the solar cell panel according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the inner reinforcing member is covered by an outer reinforcing member except for a part. Therefore, the outer reinforcing member is attached to the support member so as to cover a part of the inner reinforcing member.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the solar cell panel according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the supporting member is attached to the observation satellite main body. Therefore, when the support member is attached to the observation satellite main body, the support member is reinforced by the reinforcement member, and good heat transfer between the support member and the reinforcement member is performed.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cross section of a part of the solar cell panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a solar cell panel denoted by reference numeral 1 includes a support member 2, a solar cell 3, and a reinforcing member (stiffener) 4. The solar cell panel 1 is mounted on a spacecraft (not shown) such as an earth observation satellite. In this case, the plurality of solar cell panels 1 are connected in series and expandable / foldable via hinges (not shown).

The support member 2 has, for example, a core member 2a having a hexagonal honeycomb structure, and a front plate 2b and a back plate 2c which sandwich the core member 2a. It is formed by a highly rigid member. The thickness of the support member 2 is set smaller than the thickness of the conventional support member 32. Thereby, the temperature difference between the front and back surfaces of the support member 2 is reduced.

The solar cell 3 is a conventional solar cell 3
As in the case of No. 3, it is composed of a number of cells arranged in a plane (surface) vertically and horizontally and is mounted on the surface plate 2b of the support member 32.
As a result, power is supplied from each of the solar cells 3 to a spacecraft (not shown).

The reinforcing member 4 comprises two inner and outer reinforcing members 5 and 6 which are in contact with each other, and is attached to the back plate 2c of the supporting member 2. Thereby, the support member 2
Is reinforced. The attachment of the reinforcing member 4 to the support member 2 is performed on a plurality of parts, for example, on the vicinity of a hinge or the like where stress concentration is likely to occur.

The inner reinforcing member 5 is a back plate 2 of the supporting member 2.
It has a flat rectangular mounting surface 5a as a mounting portion for c, and is entirely formed of a rectangular cylindrical body made of a good heat conductive member such as a pitch-based carbon fiber composite material. The inner reinforcing member 5 has a mounting surface 5a bonded to the back plate 2c of the support member 2 with a good heat conductive adhesive (not shown).

The outer reinforcing member 6 comes into contact with three surfaces except the mounting surface 5a of the inner reinforcing member 5 and covers the three surfaces. The protruding portion 6a has a U-shaped cross section and the supporting member 2 serves as a mounting portion for the back plate 2c. It has two flange portions 6b and is formed entirely of a plate member having a crank-shaped cross section made of a high-strength and high-rigidity member such as a bread-based carbon fiber composite material. The outer reinforcing member 6 has a good heat conductive adhesive (see FIG. 5), with the inner surface of the protruding portion 6a on the outer surface of the inner reinforcing member 5 and the one end surface of each flange 6b on the back plate 2 of the supporting member 2. (Not shown). Thereby, the good heat conductive adhesive fills the gaps formed between the inner reinforcing member 5 and the outer reinforcing member 6, between the supporting member 2 and the inner reinforcing member 5, and between the outer reinforcing member 6 and the supporting member 2. Thus, good heat transfer between the respective members is performed.

That is, when the heat generated on the front plate 2b of the support member 2 is transmitted to the back plate 2c via the core member 2a, the transmitted heat is transferred to the inner reinforcing member 5 via the good heat conductive adhesive. And the outer reinforcing member 6 and the inner reinforcing member 5
And transmitted to the outer reinforcing member 6 via a good heat conductive adhesive.

In the solar cell panel thus configured, since the inner reinforcing member 5 is formed of a heat conductive member, when sunlight enters the surface plate 2b of the support member 2, the incident heat is reduced. Power is transmitted from the face plate 2b to the back plate 2c via the core member 2a. In this case, since the thickness of the support member 2 is set to a relatively small size, heat transfer from the front plate 2b of the support member 2 to the back plate 2b is performed in a short time.

Further, since the mounting surface 5a of the inner reinforcing member 5 is bonded to the back plate 2c of the support member 2, and the inner reinforcing member 5 and the outer reinforcing member 6 are bonded to each other via a thermally conductive adhesive. The heat transfer from 2 b to the outer reinforcing member 6 is transmitted in a short time via the inner reinforcing member 5. In this case, the heat transfer is performed more effectively because no gap is formed between the inner reinforcing member 5 and the outer reinforcing member 6 and between the support member 2 and the inner reinforcing member 5 by the heat conductive adhesive.

On the other hand, since the supporting member 2 is reinforced by the inner reinforcing member 5 and the outer reinforcing member 6, a bending force or a torsional force is applied to the supporting member 2 at the time of controlling the posture after the solar cell panel 1 is deployed. Also these forces
6, and the deformation of the support member 2 is prevented.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the support member 2 is reinforced by the reinforcing members 5 and 6, and
Since good heat transfer between the supporting member 2 and the reinforcing members 5 and 6 is performed, the thickness of the supporting member 2 can be set as small as possible, and the front plate 2b and the back plate 2c can be set. Temperature difference between the support member 2 and the inner reinforcing member 5 and between the inner reinforcing member 5 and the outer reinforcing member 6 can be reduced, and the amount of change in the thermal excitation bending moment with respect to the support member 2 can be reliably suppressed. be able to.

In this case, the temperature difference generated in the solar cell panel 1 (support member 2) and the bending vibration caused by the time change thereof are reduced, but the generated vibration level is as shown in FIG. This is about 1/2 of the vibration level generated by the panel. In the figure, the vertical axis and the horizontal axis indicate the generated torque (kg · mm) and the time (second), respectively.

In this embodiment, the case where only the inner reinforcing member is formed of a heat conductive member has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only the outer reinforcing member is replaced with the heat conductive member instead of the inner reinforcing member. It may be formed of a conductive member. Further, the two inner and outer reinforcing members may be formed by a heat conductive member. In this case, heat transfer between the supporting member and the inner and outer reinforcing members is more effectively performed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the support member 2 has a hexagonal honeycomb structure has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Absent. In addition, the shape and the material of the reinforcing member in the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiment.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, a reinforcing member is attached to the back surface of a supporting member having a plurality of solar cells on the front surface, and each reinforcing member is attached to the back surface of the supporting member. It has a portion, comprising two inner and outer reinforcing members that are in contact with each other, since at least one of these reinforcing members is formed of a heat conductive member, the supporting member is reinforced by the reinforcing member, Good heat transfer occurs between the member and the reinforcing member.

Therefore, the thickness of the support member can be set as small as possible, and the thickness between the front and back surfaces of the support member, between the support member and the inside reinforcement member, and between the inside and outside reinforcement members is reduced. Therefore, the amount of change in the thermally excited bending moment with respect to the support member can be reliably suppressed, and the bending vibration of the entire panel can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cross section of a part of a solar cell panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram shown for comparing and explaining a vibration level generated in a solar cell panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention and a vibration level generated in a conventional solar cell panel.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a cross section of a part of a conventional solar cell panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Solar cell panel 2 Support member 2a Core member 2b Front plate 2c Back plate 3 Solar cell 4 Reinforcement member 5 Inner reinforcement member 5a Mounting surface 6 Outer reinforcement member 6a Projection 6b Flange

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A solar cell panel provided with a support member having a plurality of solar cells on a front surface side, wherein a reinforcing member is attached to a back surface of the support member, and each of the reinforcing members corresponds to a back surface of the support member. A solar cell panel comprising a mounting portion and two inner and outer reinforcing members that are in contact with each other, wherein at least one of the two reinforcing members is formed of a heat conductive member. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inner reinforcing member is formed of a pitch-based carbon fiber composite material, and the outer reinforcing member is formed of a pan-based carbon fiber composite material. Solar panel. 3. The solar cell panel according to claim 1, wherein a heat conductive adhesive is interposed between the reinforcing members and between the supporting member and each of the reinforcing members. 4. The inner reinforcing member is formed of a quadrangular cylindrical body.
The solar cell panel as described. 5. The solar cell panel according to claim 1, wherein the inner reinforcing member is covered with the outer reinforcing member except for a part. 6. The solar cell panel according to claim 1, wherein the support member is attached to an observation satellite main body.