Power Generation, Conditioning, and Storage Requirements

The stated performance requirements that include the reliability for the DSCS-III satellite are clearly defined in this section for power generation, PC, and storage devices. Specific details for these requirements are explicitly defined under each category. 

The solar-array output power is reduced after each year of operation in space regardless of satellite category. To explain the solar-array power degradation, the output power of the solar array for a communications satellite with operational life of seven years is assumed to be 650 W in the beginning of the first year of operation. This power output is reduced to 610 W after one year of operation, to 570 W after two years of operation, to 548 W after three years of operation, to 525 W after four years of operation, to 510 W after five years of operation, to 480 W after six years of operation, and finally to 450 W after seven years of operation. 

Brief studies conducted by the author indicate that the geostationary satellite experiences 90 eclipses during one year on the station with a maximum eclipse duration of 72 minutes per day. This leads to a relatively low number of charge-discharge 

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