CubeSat Solar Panel Prototyping

Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/yeusgM75ys Sometimes, prototyping is just a bit of a grind. In today’s video, I struggle through assembling the first revision of the #solarpanels for my #cubesat . Lots of trouble shooting was needed, but some things also just worked. Huge thanks to @PCBWay for sponsoring this video and helping me with making sensible design for manufacturing decisions! Use my referral link to get $5 credit: https://pcbway.com/g/i2s1I5 *Dev kit shop will be up in late 2025 / early 26* – get pinged: https://forms.gle/5a2UZdfcyUmFjTZd8 ## 🛰️ Support This Project If you are looking for a way to support this channel, leave a tip or become a member :) - Channel Memberships: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLf9aKlW-TbC8zbrl0OvKLQ/join - Patreon: https://patreon.com/buildacubesat - Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/buildacubesat - PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/bac-donate *Timestamps* 00:00 Intro and Quitting My Day Job 01:13 PV Panels, Hatches, and How They Fit Together 02:25 Castellations for Pins and Receptacles 02:50 Design Support by #pcbway 03:20 Assembly Procedure 04:15 Solder Everywhere, All at Once 05:02 Final Result 05:39 Diodes on a Solar Panel 06:20 Future Upgrade: Epoxy Underfill 07:27 EPS Connector Struggle 08:40 Interference All the Way Down 09:58 Assembly Plan, for Now 11:01 TL;DR and Outro *Part Numbers* Solar cells: Anysolar SM141K10TF Pins: Mill-Max 3320-0-00-15-00-00-03-0 Receptacles: Mill-Max 0630-0-15-15-30-27-10-0 *Repo Links* Structure CAD Files: https://codeberg.org/buildacubesat-project/bac-structure Panel PCBs: https://codeberg.org/buildacubesat-project/bac-hardware/src/branch/main/panel *Video Links* s01e14 Structure Update: https://youtu.be/q62hNU-rkL0 Need a friendly, non-corporate GitHub/Gitlab alternative? Check out https://codeberg.org/ #buildacubesat #episode #s02e02