- 27.08.2013
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The only thing that would make Archimedes' solar death ray more fascinating is if it was technically feasible, socially benevolent, and in space. That's where John Mankins comes in. A NASA veteran, aerospace entrepreneur, and space-based solar power (SBSP) expert, Mankins designed the world's first practical orbital solar plant. It's called the Solar Power Satellite via Arbitrarily Large PHased Array, or SPS-ALPHA for short. If all goes to plan, it could be launched as early as 2025, which is sooner than it sounds when it comes to space-based solar power timelines.
Scientists have been aware of the edge the “space-down” approach holds over terrestrial panels for decades. An orbiting plant would be unaffected by weather, atmospheric filtering of light, and the sun's inconvenient habit of setting every evening. SBSP also has the potential to dramatically increase the availability of renewable energy.
The SPS-ALPHA could revolutionize disaster relief, give developing countries access to reliable power, and provide the planet with an affordable green energy option.
I recently caught up with Mankins to discuss the SPS-ALPHA's progress and potential. “Because the power plant is in orbit, it can deliver power to any place on the ground that it can see,” he said. “A single solar power satellite would deliver power to on the order of a third of humanity—not all at the same time, but any of that market could, in principle, be addressed.” The SPS-ALPHA could revolutionize disaster relief, give developing countries access to reliable power, and provide the planet with an affordable green energy option. Plus, it's shaped like a margarita glass. What's not to love?
Most aerospace professionals would tell you there is, in fact, a lot
not to love. When space solar was first suggested in the 1970s, the
projected costs were gargantuan, giving the concept something of a
quixotic reputation that holds strong today. “Most people in the
aerospace industry learned, when they were coming up as new engineers,
that solar power satellites are impossible, wildly expensive, and that
anybody who works on them is a nut,” said Mankins. And it's no wonder.
The old-school vision of such a satellite would weigh about 50,000 tons,
cover an area of 5 x 10 km, and require a budget of at least half a
trillion dollars. That exiled it firmly into the land of aggressively
wishful thinking, where O'Neill cylinders and Martian terraforming hang
out.
But times have changed. Solar cells have increased their efficiency from
10 percent to as high as 30 percent. Amplifiers have shrunk, and swarm
technology has ushered in new possibilities for SBSP. The SPS-ALPHA is a
reflection of these advances: a 21st century satellite with a
dramatically lower price tag. Its key innovation is that it's an
elegant, biomimetic flock of smaller modules, rather than the integrated
hulk of yesteryear. “It intends to imitate how semi-autonomous insects
operate, like hives of bees or colonies of ants,” said Mankins.
“Everything is done on ID tags or barcodes. Every piece knows who the
other piece is, and how it's doing, and if it wants to be repaired, or
if it wants to be left alone.”
The swarm concept is not the only size/cost reduction. The SPS-ALPHA
will be primarily made up of thin-film mirrors, instead of the chunkier
photovoltaic cells of ground-based solar. These mirrors reflect and
concentrate sunlight, and then direct that energy to a central
photovoltaic on the back of the satellite's array. Over on the other
side of the array, which faces Earth, microwave-power transmission
panels will beam the energy down in the form of radio waves.
Mankins differs from some other SBSP scientists when it comes to his
preference for the low-frequency chunk of the spectrum. The idea of
using lasers is popular with many, because higher frequencies would
reduce the size of the satellite's transmitters and the receiver on
Earth. When it comes to spacecraft, smaller is usually better, but
Mankins draws the line at shooting lasers at the planet. High frequency
blasts can damage retinas, destroy electronics, and potentially ignite
fires or explosions. “Think about the Death Star,” he warned. The risk
factor outweighs the seductive, compact grace offered by lasers. After
all, nobody wants Earth to go the way of Alderaan.
Since Mankins is dead-set on low-intensity microwave transmitters, the receiver on Earth will be large—about 6 to 8 km in diameter, positioned 5 to 10 meters above the ground. It will be constructed from millions of rectifier diodes—true quantum devices—wired together. When assembled, the receiver will look like a huge mesh, or a fishing net. The diodes are impressively efficient, and will utilize 80 to 90 percent of the energy beamed down from the satellite. And even though it covers a lot of ground, the receiver's environmental impact will be negligible. It could even be hung over farmland—like the Arecibo Telescope—without impinging much on the ecology of the area.
Via
According to Mankins, the biggest obstacle that the development of the satellite faces is the widespread perception that all SBSP is inherently impractical and expensive. “There really is no significant technical difficulty in building the first prototype and flying it,” he said. But there are improvements that need to be made before the SPS-ALPHA can become not only a functional orbiting solar power plant, but a commercially viable energy source.
The initial goal is to get the cost down to 10 cents per kilowatt hour—about two cents
less than the average American currently pays. In order to hit that
target, the problem of waste heat has to be addressed. There is no air
in space, and thus no way to cool down the modules. They have to be able
to manage heat efficiently, or they'll fry. Mankins has outlined four
ways to address this issue. The first is to make the modules lighter,
perhaps by building them from carbon composite instead of aluminum. The
second and third are about amping up the efficiency of the solar cells
and the solid-state amplifiers, respectively. The last is to develop
materials that would make the solar cells and electronics cope at higher
temperatures. Solving any two out of four, and you've got yourself a
cost-efficient orbiting solar plant. It's only a matter of time.
Mankins is a fan of rapid prototyping, and wants to develop the
SPS-ALPHA in three year increments. That way, it will be at least a
fourth generation model when it's finally ready to deliver power from
space. The year 2025 may seem a long way away, but if there's anything
that's worth the wait, it's a satellite capable of plugging the Earth
into the sun.
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