Electrical power system for a 3U CubeSat nanosatellite incorporating peak power tracking with dual redundant control

Since the advent of the CubeSat nanosatellite standard it has been embraced by many universities as an affordable means of conducting space science, with the backbone of any such mission being the supply of electrical power to the spacecraft's payloads. This paper details the design of a photovoltaic-battery based power supply utilising peak power trackers for solar array regulation and battery charging. Uniquely, the peak power tracking is executed by an active search algorithm, Perturb & Observe, in both analogue and digital form as a measure of redundancy.