...100 MW of Space Solar Power ...per single launch!
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From: Sylvia Else on 15 Dec 2009 00:45 Jonathan wrote: > "Sylvia Else" <sylvia(a)not.at.this.address> wrote in message > news:00a1528c$0$26889$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com... >> Jonathan wrote: >>> "Sylvia Else" <sylvia(a)not.at.this.address> wrote in message >>> news:00a09904$0$23357$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com... >>>>> Solaren has not provided details on just how its technology >>>>> works, citing intellectual property concerns. >>>> Meaning it wouldn't stand up to the inevitable expert scrutiny if they got a >>>> patent. >>>> >>> Maybe, but keeping a secret could mean fraud or it could mean >>> a breakthrough, we don't know for sure. >> If they have a breakthrough, they should get a patent on it, ASAP. As long as >> it's merely secret, they're exposed to industrial espionage, accidental leaks, >> you name it. > > > They claim to have a patented 'system'. But that's all I found, no details. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7612284.html Usual case of patenting the bleedin' obvious, while not identifying a solution to the technical difficulties involved. Sylvia.
From: Sylvia Else on 15 Dec 2009 01:06 Pat Flannery wrote: > Peter Fairbrother wrote: > >> >> Most designs don't use a mesh, but rather a matrix of transmitting >> elements in a solid plane. The individual elements are closely spaced, >> and even if a grid was used it would be fairly full. Think of a phased >> array antenna rather than a loose grid of wires > > Something like a huge version of this: > http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/Images/MR-775.jpg > Unlike a big parabolic dish, you can steer the microwave beam from a > flat array electronically without having to physically move the antenna. > > Pat Imagine a large square in orbit over the equator, oriented so that its surface is horizontal, (w.r.t. the surface of the Earth immediately below) and so that it has one of its four sides (the "front") perpendicular to the direction of motion. It seems to me that all four sides experience a force with a component towards the centre of the square, and a component away from the centre of the Earth. The forces on the front and rear arise because they are travelling too fast for the orbit they are in. The forces on the left and right arise because of that, and also because they are not actually in an orbit about the centre of the Earth. These forces tend to make the square crumple into a ball. The forces on the front and rear sides can be eliminated by making the square curved, but the forces on the left and right sides remain. Making a very large antenna that is sufficiently rigid not to collapse, but light enough to be launched, doesn't seem such a straigthforward proposition. Sylvia.
From: Pat Flannery on 15 Dec 2009 03:17 Peter Fairbrother wrote: > I was just pointing out that the aircraft, even a composite one, > wouldn't melt or anything like that! There's another thing to consider here... if the composite material uses carbon fiber in its construction (most aerospace composites do) there is a problem as carbon fiber is electrically conductive, and hitting it with microwave energy might cause it to arc at the ends of the fiber in the same way a metal bread bag tie will in a microwave oven. (Any long thin metal object works like a antenna for the microwave energy, and starts emitting high amperage electricity at the ends that will cause them to melt in a spectacular light and sound show*) Although the microwave flux in the beam would be very low, the individual carbon fibers could be several hundred feet in length, and that could give them the antenna area needed to build up a very large electrical charge even in a low energy microwave environment. * You wreck your microwave oven trying this, it's not my fault - and the fusing steel of the wire tie is hot enough to melt right into the glass tray you put the food on. Pat
From: BradGuth on 15 Dec 2009 01:19 On Dec 13, 1:41 am, "Jonathan" <H...(a)Again.net> wrote: > Controversy Flares Over Space-Based Solar Power Plans > > Jeremy Hsu > space.com - Wed Dec 2, 10:15 am ET > > "Solaren would then need to launch a solar panel array capable > of generating 400 megawatts. The total launch weight of all the > equipment would be the equivalent of about 400 metric tons, > or 20 shuttle-sized launches, according to Hoffert. > > But Solaren says that it would just require four or five heavy-lift > rocket launches capable of carrying 25 metric tons, or about > one fourth of Hoffert's weight estimate. The company is relying > on developing more efficient photovoltaic technology for the > solar panels, as well as mirrors that help focus sunlight. > > Solaren has not provided details on just how its technology > works, citing intellectual property concerns. But it expects that > its space solar power can convert to RF energy with greater > than 80 percent efficiency, and expects similar conversion > efficiency for converting the RF energy back to DC > electricity on the ground in California. The company also > anticipates minimal transmission losses from the space > to the ground."http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20091202/sc_space/controversyflaresover... > > The 'inevitable' is steadily becoming possible...imho. > > Jonathan > > s 64% all-inclusive efficiency isn't half bad, Getting so much created, deployed and serviced is likely going to consume most every megawatt of energy it produces, and then some. Is this energy going to cost us $1/kw.h? ~ BG
From: BradGuth on 15 Dec 2009 01:25
On Dec 13, 6:37 am, gaetanomarano <m...(a)gaetanomarano.it> wrote: > . > . > > Space Solar Power hoax/illusion DEBUNKED article: > > http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts/038sspdebunked.html > > . > . > > Why the Ares-1 is already DEAD article: > > http://www.ghostnasa.com/posts2/058ares1dead.html It's called job security without having to invest a dime of your own loot. William Mook was always good at suggesting ways of his living large off the backs of others, as well as always protecting Big Energy and their puppet government at the same time. ~ BG |