To get an orbit circular you simply need to get both the periapsis and the apoapsis at around the same altitude. You can just burn towards the velocity marker on the navball when you get to apoapsis until the AP and PE markers start to spin around in the map view(you can still control you ship and see the navball in the map view by clicking on the little box with an up arrow in it where the navball usually is) to get your orbit as circular as possible. Also, as long as the orbit is above 70km it won't get slowed down at all by the atmosphere, since it completely cuts off around 69km. Your satellite will be fine. And with the solar panels, are you still in time warp? Because you're not able to control your ship at all while time is moving faster than x5 speed. Congratulations with the deployment of your first satellite, and good luck with your future missions!
