The preceding discussion has highlighted a dramatic increase in space power requirements. This has resulted in the initiation of several development activities at ESA which are intended to optimize the mass and cost of the large systems currently under study. The mass of power conditioning systems has fallen quite a bit recently as a result of recent technology such as power FETs, thick film power hybrids and new circuit design techniques. In most cases this leads to significant cost savings. Further cost savings are being realized by using standardized equipment designs with modular expansion capability. This is now seen as a fundamental unit level requirement. There is a growing awareness in Europe that power system optimization is not limited solely to the primary power system, but extends through the complete power conditioning train from the solar array or battery source to the ultimate details of the user's electrical power requirements. 4.1.1 Power System Developments for Manned Missions Concern for the relatively high power requirements of the COLUMBUS programme caused ESA to have industry develop a breadboard power system starting in 1986. This work has been completed, and has resulted in the design, construction, and testing of a 3.5 kilowatt, 120 volt DC regulated power system in which the array shunt regulator, battery charging circuitry, and battery discharge circuitry are integrated into a single, fault tolerant error control loop.
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