Effect of Solar Array Size on Sustained Arc Inception

The probability of sustained arc inception depends on many factors including primary arc peak current and pulse width. Multiple tests in simulated plasma environments were performed to extract the most important factors influencing primary arc pulse characteristics. It is clearly demonstrated that the solar array size has very little impact on sustained arc inception. Solar array operational voltage and string current, together with the array design features, are the critical issues in the prevention of catastrophic discharges. In this paper we show the experimental and theoretical justifications for making this statement. Nomenclature C = capacitance, F Cs = surface capacitance, F*m-2 Esc = second crossover, V I = arc current, A Im = peak current, A Mi = ion mass, kg