...100 MW of Space Solar Power ...per single launch!
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From: David Spain on 18 Dec 2009 01:16 Pat Flannery <flanner(a)daktel.com> writes: > I was trying to figure that one out myself; if you do try it, the satellite > will appear to bob up and down in a north-south direction in the sky during a > 24 hour period. Yes, GEO satellite do not actually remain fixed at a point, but do a little figure 8 in the sky, unnoticable by the antennas that receive their signals. Dave
From: Peter Fairbrother on 18 Dec 2009 06:56 Fred J. McCall wrote: > Sylvia Else <sylvia(a)not.at.this.address> wrote: > > : > :However, this highlights another issue, which affects the cost, and > :that's that the generators cannot run at 100% capacity factor, because > :the demand isn't always there. There has to be installed capacity to > :meet the peaks in demand, not just the average. > : > > That's what peaking plants are for. Install enough to meet base load > and then build peaking plants powered by, well, anything at all. > The other way to look at it, which might work well for a very large solar power system. is install a capacity which will cover peak use, and use the off-peak capacity to do something like make hydrogen/aluminium/whatever, and sell that. :) -- Peter Fairbrother
From: Sylvia Else on 18 Dec 2009 07:02 Fred J. McCall wrote: > Sylvia Else <sylvia(a)not.at.this.address> wrote: > > : > :However, this highlights another issue, which affects the cost, and > :that's that the generators cannot run at 100% capacity factor, because > :the demand isn't always there. There has to be installed capacity to > :meet the peaks in demand, not just the average. > : > > That's what peaking plants are for. Install enough to meet base load > and then build peaking plants powered by, well, anything at all. > That's fine if you have something to run them on, but they usually run or oil or gas for sound economic reasons. Neither of those is an unlimited resource. A few are hydro, but mostly not, and you can't just build new hydrostations because you feel like it. You have to find a suitable location. The easy (i.e. cheap) ones get done first - and consequently have mostly been done already. An obvious solution would be battery storage to balance supply against demand. Pity we don't have anything that approaches being usable that way. I suppose the power not needed to meed immediate demand could be used to electrolyse water for use in our future hydrogen fuel cell cars (if they're ever actually viable), though electroysis plant is expensive, and the owners are likely to want to run it 24/7. Ditto desalination plants. Sylvia.
From: Sylvia Else on 18 Dec 2009 07:05 Peter Fairbrother wrote: > Fred J. McCall wrote: >> Sylvia Else <sylvia(a)not.at.this.address> wrote: >> >> : >> :However, this highlights another issue, which affects the cost, and >> :that's that the generators cannot run at 100% capacity factor, >> because :the demand isn't always there. There has to be installed >> capacity to :meet the peaks in demand, not just the average. >> : >> >> That's what peaking plants are for. Install enough to meet base load >> and then build peaking plants powered by, well, anything at all. >> > > The other way to look at it, which might work well for a very large > solar power system. is install a capacity which will cover peak use, and > use the off-peak capacity to do something like make > hydrogen/aluminium/whatever, and sell that. Though as I indicate in my other post, the problem with that approach is that the plant used for producing hydrogen/aluminium/whatever, tends to be capital intensive, and is most economic when run 24/7. Plant owners would presumably contract with space power providers to get 24/7 power, leaving the underlying problem unsolved. Sylvia.
From: Greg D. Moore (Strider) on 18 Dec 2009 07:33
"Sylvia Else" <sylvia(a)not.at.this.address> wrote in message news:00185a93$0$2120$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com... > > An obvious solution would be battery storage to balance supply against > demand. Pity we don't have anything that approaches being usable that way. > The one I'm hearing more and more about is compressed air. Not a panacea, but apparently may be quite workable in many cases for peak power loads. > I suppose the power not needed to meed immediate demand could be used to > electrolyse water for use in our future hydrogen fuel cell cars (if > they're ever actually viable), though electroysis plant is expensive, and > the owners are likely to want to run it 24/7. > > Ditto desalination plants. > > Sylvia. -- Greg Moore Ask me about lily, an RPI based CMC. |