• sounding balloons
• tethered balloons
• solar panel
• power management
• solar power generation

Sounding and tethered balloons have emerged in recent years due to their cost effective and versatile nature, allowing for a wide range of scientific experiments, observations, and meteorological studies. These platforms provide access to near-space environments at a lower cost with respect to traditional satellite deployments or manned space flights. Researchers can simulate near-space conditions such as low pressure and extreme cold to test scientific instruments, solar cells and electrical components without incurring in costs and complexity of a space mission. The rapid deployment is a valuable asset as balloons do not require specific ground stations or the presence of many operators for the launch phase. Furthermore, payload flexibility is an important feature as balloons can transport sensors, cameras and communication equipment to facilitate data collection and observation for Earth monitoring. Nevertheless, their reliance on conventional batteries power limits their operational endurance and restricts the duration of the missions. By harnessing the power of the Sun, these balloons can achieve longer operational lifetimes, enabling more comprehensive scientific studies and a broader range of applications.
This thesis investigates the integration of a solar power solutions to increase autonomy, extend missions duration, and enhance overall payloads functionality. The core of this work involves the design, realization, and testing of a solar power generation and management system tailored for sounding and tethered balloons. An active stabilized platform, driven by a 12 V, 2 Ah Nickel Metal-Hybrid battery, has been taken as a reference for this study and its power consumptions have been analyzed for a preliminary design of the solar panel. The necessity of simultaneously charging the battery and powering the platform led to the incorporation of a second battery into the system. This addition is essential to ensure uninterrupted power supply while efficiently storing the energy generated by the solar cells. The current is managed through the realization of a custom-designed PCB that features software-controlled switches able to channel the current towards the battery that needs a recharge for an optimized energy utilization.
The final panel configuration incorporates four mono-crystalline silicate solar cells that, with an output of about 2.4 V and 1.2 A, are capable of charging the battery. The advantage of this layout is the scalability since it can easily accommodate additional cells, expanding the capacity depending on mission requirements to suit different energy needs. Furthermore, an autonomous Sun-tracking mechanism has been added to the overall structure with the aim of maximizing panel exposition to the Sun and enhance the power production. The findings of this thesis have significant implications as they offer a practical solution to overcome the limitations of traditional battery-powered sounding and tethered balloon missions.