To investigate the thermal deformation and thermal stress of solar panels in orbit under two operating conditions (full-load and half-load), an analysis model of thermal deformation was developed using  I-DEAS. The substrate of the solar panels, which was composed of several composite materials, could be reasonably simplified, and the sandwich plate theory was employed to derive the equivalent mechanical parameters of solar panels. The simulation results show that the thermal deformations of solar panels are mainly caused by the transient temperature difference along the thickness direction. Additionally, the temperature difference along the thickness direction of solar panels reaches the max value when solar panels enter the eclipse. The thermal deformation of the solar panels under halfload operating condition is higher than that under fullload operating condition.

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