The energy storage systems may also take various forms but the most attractive and cost effective choice seems to be electro-chemical energy storage systems using Nickel Hydrogen cells (NiH2). The energy storage system using NiH2 cells will need a charge converter to charge the NiH2 cells and a discharge converter to provide power from the energy storage system for distribution to the consumer loads. The charge and discharge converters are basically DC to DC converters. Power conversion takes the form of converting either DC or AC to the required power and voltage level of the power distribution system and consumer loads. The main converter, shown in Fig. 1, provides conversion from DC to the required power frequency for primary power distribution. The secondary and the consumer interface converters may take the form of DC to DC, DC to AC, AC to DC or AC to AC conversion. For clarity, power management and control elements of the EPS are not shown in this paper. The two important parameters that have an effect on the performance of the spacecraft EPS are the efficiency and mass. 2.1 Efficiency The end to end power distribution efficiency of the spacecraft electrical power system (EPS) depends on the individual efficiencies (^i, t/2, t/4, >75) of the elements of the power system (see Fig. 1).
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