OreSat Solar Simulator: Critical Infrastructure for Student-Built CubeSats

The OreSat Solar Simulator is a benchtop solar simulator for hardware-in-the-loop testing of CubeSat solar modules. The solar simulator is a device that uses LED and halogen light bulbs to recreate the sun’s solar spectrum with light wavelengths ranging from UV to IR. The system is modular so that multiple solar simulators can be used to simulate light shining on each face of a CubeSat. The brightness of each solar simulator can be controlled manually or run alongside the Basilisk orbital simulator to accurately simulate conditions in orbit. The OreSat Solar Simulator team and interns researched, designed, and built four independent solar simulators and control systems from the ground up. The simulators can be used to individually control the light shining on OreSat’s solar modules to replicate the satellite rotating in orbit. This system is controlled by the Basilisk orbital simulator which calculates the light incident on the satellite. This involved researching dimming technologies, circuit layouts, mechanical designs, and control methodology. Each solar simulator is an enclosed system capable of providing varying light for a single OreSat solar module ranging from darkness to full solar insolation in low earth orbit (Air Mass 0, or “AM0”).