Thermal Characteristics of Multilayer Insulation Materials for Flexible Thin-Film Solar Cell Array of Stratospheric Airship

Abstract EN

Flexible thin-film solar cell is an efficient energy system on the surface of stratospheric airship for utilizing the solar energy.

In order to ensure the normal operation of airship platform, the thermal control problem between the flexible thin-film solar cell and the airship envelope should be properly resolved.

In this paper, a multilayer insulation material (MLI) is developed first, and low temperature environment test is carried out to verify the insulation effect of MLI.

Then, a thermal heat transfer model of flexible thin-film solar cell and MLI is proposed, and the equivalent thermal conductivity coefficients of flexible thin-film solar cell and Nomex honeycomb are calculated based on the environment test and the temperature profile of flexible thin-film solar cell versus each layer of MLI.

Finally, FLUENT is used for modeling and simulation analysis on the flexible thin-film solar cell and MLI, and the simulation results agree well with the experimental data, which validate the correctness of the proposed heat transfer model of MLI.

In some way, our study can provide helpful support for further engineering applications of flexible thin-film solar cell.