Beaming Solar Power From Space
It popped up awhile ago, but it’s back again: the idea to beam collected solar power to Earth.
There’s only a few, shall we say, minor problems with getting this to work, aside from those mentioned in the article:
- Satellite Position
- Transfer Mechanism
- Ownership
- Defensibility
Satellite Position
Modern times have made the Earth’s rotation as common knowledge, and yet something like this appears. Will the satellite be in a stationary orbit, so as to have contact with the Sun at all times? If so, how do you collect something that is always moving in relation to you? Or will the satellite be orbiting at the same speed as Earth (having a relative velocity of zero)? If so, where is this energy beamed to?
Not too close, eh?
One could imagine that, for practical and efficiency reasons, the satellite would remain in a stationary orbit so it would have contact with the Sun at all times (unless it was far enough away that Earth’s shadow was negligible… but we’ll pretend that’s impossible). How would the energy be collected?
Transfer Mechanism
Since we’re assuming the satellite will remain in a stationary orbit, the transfer mechanism to Earth would be very complicated. The most sensible method (since we can’t yet transfer power via radio waves) is a high intensity beam of energy/light, or a laser. That’s all well and good, but the Earth is rotating below the satellite…
Some solutions:
- a subset of satellites that bounces the laser around the Earth and always targets one specific location
- a network of something akin to a wireframe, on which the collection mechanism can “slide” around the Earth to receive the transfer
- a huge line of receivers that encircles the Earth, always having contact from the satellite’s laser at one point on this line
As you can see, there is no easy answer.
Energy says “Beam me down, Scotty!”
Ownership
Who would own this satellite? The U.S. Government is the one with funding interest at the moment, but what about it’s reality? Do the American energy companies, who already charge exorbitant amounts of money, add this to their energy arsenal? Is it owned by the United Nations, in an effort to be a “global society” and transfer the power around the world? Does it become temporarily “owned” by the country to which it is beaming energy at the moment?
Short of having one of these energy grabbers for each country that wants one (and maybe for each energy company), there will be huge debate, and possible fighting, over an item such as this.
Defensibility
How do you defend a giant satellite that you, as a country or corporation, may come to depend on for energy? Attack rockets and lasers-that-don’t-yet-exist to the satellite, with an auto-targeting computer? What about meteors destroying something that costs so much? What happens when, say, a Chinese satellite is unknowingly armed with missiles comes close… and attacks? Solar flares? The slight “wobble” of Earth? Ground-based attacks? Spaceships? Debris?
Me R SpaseCatz. Me eet SpaseMise!
My Point
My whole point is this: it sounds like a good idea, and is really cool to think about… but there is no way this can be designed and built without spending alot of money, and causing worldwide problems on many levels.
Maybe you should work on global warming first…
