The "Curwin©" design:: A novel solar array concept for constellations

Within Fokker Space a study was undertaken during the period 1998 to 1999 to investigate solar array designs for the constellation markets. In close co-operation with Boeing and MMS (now Astrium), several solar array design options were investigated for the Teledesic and Celestri programmes. One of the Solar Array concepts studied in more depth was the "Curwin((C))". This paper discusses the evaluations made, which have led to this novel concept. Also, the preliminary performance characteristics are provided. A breadboard model at 50% scale was made to correlate hardware with the theory. A brief overview is given of the breadboard test results.