Design Blueprint: A Dust-Derated Photovoltaic Array for a Mars Surface Habitat: Sizing from the Martian Solar Budget

Design blueprint derived from the source paper (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.24193687): This paper presents a sized design for a Mars surface system based on photovoltaic conversion in triple-junction cells, with maximum-power-point conditioning and dust derating. A fixed-tilt triple-junction photovoltaic array feeding a conditioned direct-current bus for a four-person habitat. The study is SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED: all values are computed from stated assumptions and published Martian environmental data, and no hardware was built or tested. The principal computed results are solar constant W m2 of 590, atmospheric transmission of 0.75, peak irradiance W m2 of 442.5, cell efficiency of 0.3. Further results include dust factor of 0.78, specific power W m2 of 100.4, design load kW of 18, array area m2 of 179.2. The design is a computed study for peaceful surface operations — power supply, thermal control, radiation protection, construction and resource extraction for a crewed base — and it has no targeting or weapon application. Losses, deratings for dust and temperature, and the margin between capacity and the stated load are reported alongside the headline figures, and the limitations section states what a physical test would still need to establish. Status: DESIGN BLUEPRINT — SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED — NOT BUILT. All numbers are simulated values from the source paper's computation, deposited with this blueprint as compute.py and results.json. AI-use disclosure: Dave, an AI research system, assisted with the computation and drafting under the author's direction; author of record William Alexander Aldred.