Design and On-Orbit Performance of the Electrical Power System for the Quetzal-1 CubeSat

QUETZAL-1, a 1U CubeSat developed by Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, flew from April to November 2020 with an in-house developed electrical power system (EPS). The EPS integrated six non-deployable solar panels with three MPPT chargers, a centralized architecture with +3.3 VDC, +5 VDC, and +7.6 VDC rails powered by an unregulated main bus connected to a +4.2 VDC rechargeable Li-ion battery, along with protections, a battery heater, and deployment switches. The article describes the design and on-orbit performance, showing a positive power budget throughout the mission, even during high beta angle seasons when panel efficiency decreases, and how the heater prevented battery freezing during long eclipses.