Posted on 06/08/2022 2:37:41 AM PDT by RomanSoldier19
s great as ground-based solar panels are, occasional cloud cover means that the system often fails to operate at full efficiency. Moreover, areas which receive heavy rainfall all through the year, cannot rely on solar generated electricity.
To get around this, a team of Chinese scientists and engineers have been working on a way to build a solar power plant in space which will be capable of beaming the stored energy to Earth. The team behind the project claims that if things work out, such a facility could generate about six times as much energy as if it was located on the ground.
While China has been aiming to launch its first solar power transmission technology in 2030, those involved in the project said that technological advancements meant that they will now be able to begin testing its gear in space in 2028.
The idea is to convert solar energy into microwaves or lasers before being targeted at stations based on the Earth, which will then convert it to power for the grid. The space based stations will orbit at an altitude of about 250 miles or 400 kilometres above Earth
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
How much energy will be lost in the conversion to laser beams and back.
This makes zero sense, Clouds will stop/deflect lasers and maybe microwaves?
Unless its a weapon.
This solar panel arrangement could work as a weapon to cook cities you don’t like.
But first the CCP/PLA has to build this. Which is doubtful.
I see a potential problem - anything that moves into this laser or microwave beam would get fried as it was moving. That means an even greater kill-off of birds than meeting up with a wind turbine. And of course a plane full of passengers stands no chance.
What if the beam being sent down to the ground station gets knocked a little askew and is off the receiving antenna? Does this then burn a hole in the changed target area?
It is one thing to collect solar power to run an orbiting satellite, and another altogether to transmit the solar-generated power back to the earth’s surface. Maybe they can run a heavy-duty cable up to the orbiting solar collectors and transmit the power back that way.
How much mass would have to be put in orbit for this system. It takes lots of energy to put a pound into orbit.
Yeah, I’m thinking weapon.
only a
five-year-old
believes any of this
Whatever they come up with will be made of the least expensive parts possible to maximize profit, and allow for the largest bribes possible to the CCP management.
Several Sci-fi novels about building an elevator from the surface up to a ‘La Grange Point’ ( https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/754/what-is-a-lagrange-point/ ). The biggest problem is that the connecting cable/wire/ribbon is hundreds of miles long and weighs hundreds of tons. Any connector will need the tensile strength to hold it’s own weight plus the weight of any ‘elevator’ that travels up/down the cable.
It may be that our technology will be able to build such a platform but even then the practicality is limited. And of course there is the matter of security at the connecting point on the surface. Any fanatical follower of the cult of mohammed (most of them) with a decent size bomb can end it all.
If history serves, American taxpayers are footing the bill for Chinese R and D.
Unless it’s a stationary satellite, it will move. Kind of messes things up a little. If it’s a stationary satellite at 22,000 miles up, how much would it lose in transit.
Giant solar space-based mirrors to fry your enemies on the ground?
I’m sure their new space station plans will have that capability.
This idea is so dumb. Why don’t they just connect the solar arrays to the earth with a 250 mile long extension cord? :-P
“great as ground-based solar panels are, occasional cloud cover means that the system often fails to operate at full efficiency.”
Not to mention night time.
The late Gerald K O’Neil Ph.D (1927-92) promulgated this idea (amongst others) for space commercialization & colonization in the 1970s. At that time, with the plans for a Space Shuttle that could turn-around in weeks, ‘pickup truck in space’, it looked on the cutting edge of feasibility for the concept of “Solar Power Satellites”.
As pointed out, a big problem was the ‘orbit-to-surface’ power transmission. What was proposed was a large microwave rectenna to keep the transmission beam weak enough for safety. Obviously, that optimistic hope died upon reality as cost rose and enthusiasm waned.
Yeah, that could NEVER be repurposed as a weapon.
Those lasers or microwave beams will have enough energy to be dangerous, and can be used as a weapon against China’s enemies. Will our government care?
If you are a team of Chinese engineers, selling the concept to the CCP would mean job security for a very long time
It has to be microwaves, which can be done at 90%+ efficiency. Lasers would never work, the writer’s smoking crack on that one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.