The exposure of high voltage spacecraft systems to the charged particle environment of space can produce interactions that will influence system operation. An experimental investigation of these interactions has been undertaken for insulator and conductor test surfaces biased up to t1 kV in a simulated low Earth orbit charged particle environment. It has been found that these interactions are controlled by the insulator surfaces ourrounding the biased conductors. For positive applied voltages

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... e electron current collection can be enhanced by the insulators. For negative applied voltages the insulator surface confines the voltage to the conductor region; this can cause arcing. Understanding these interactions and the technology to control their impact on system operation is essential to the design of solar cell arrays for ion drive propulsion applications that use direst drive power processing.