A theoretical orbital solar cell field
Professor John Mankins has an idea of creating a field of solar cells in outer space that could beam power to Earth and in theory could provide 10,000 times the energy needed by all of Earth’s civilizations. This episode of Discovery Project Earth on Planet Green TV presents a number of tests designed to prove whether such a lofty goal would be possible.
The first test consists of launching a normal solar cell, and a solar cell whose effectiveness is intensified with a Fresnel lens 100,000 feet into the air to make sure that solar cells could function properly at the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere. I won’t ruin the results for you, but I will say that I wasn’t surprised at what happened.
After that test was complete, things got much more interesting. For solar cells to function from space there would need to be a way to get the energy back to Earth. One way that this could be possible would be to beam the power back to Earth using concentrated microwaves. To test this a set of controlled experiments were conducted starting with beaming energy over 12 feet in a lab and finishing with the transfer of energy over 60 miles between two Hawaiian islands. The controlled experiment worked perfectly as did a much shorter version of the 60 mile experiment. The larger experiment didn’t work quite as planned, but going from 100 yards to 60 miles is a rather large jump.
How Green Was This Show: It was extremely green. You don’t get much greener than proposing a way to generate 100% of the world’s energy through solar power.
Fun Facts:
- Solar cells strengthened with Fresnel lenses were eight times as effective in the experiment compared to normal solar cells
- Solar cells in space could generate five times as much energy.
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Tuesday, 14. July 2009
Mankins truly is the father of Space Solar Power (SSP). But with the technology already there, and with launch costs set to go down in the next decade, this thing is actually for real.
Check out an actual company committed to the development of SSP. Last month, PowerSat filed a patent on two interesting and cost-saving technologies. Check it out! http://www.powersat.com/patent_release.html
Monday, 20. July 2009
this experiment gives a ray of hope to planning which is being done on the conservation of the natural resources…. this experiment is something that can create a vast difference in the scientific history… which would be great to see.