Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs

take all the homes in the country.... how many will have roofs not
blocked by trees, surrounding buildings hills etc, that are also
orientated to take good advantage of the sun for good power
production?

now elminate night time cloudy or snowey days and for anyone in the
northern areas forget winter completely...... a friend has a system
here on his barn roof, he reports winter is useless in PA... suns
angle too low

is it possible to place the solar panel sats in orbits to maximize sun
exposure?

and could solar panes be built to collect the suns energy directly
while still getting power beamed back from the sats?

wonder if its possible to deploy plain sun reflectors in orbit to
maximise daylight all year......

say augmented daylight from 6 am till 10 pm all year. this would cut
the power needed to light homes etc, and make driving safer too

In article , nospam@
127.0.0.1 says...

jacob navia wrote:
I can't see what is that big advantage of installing solar panels
in orbit compared to installing them in the sahara desert or in other
more accessible places in the surface of the earth. The U.S. has a
fair share of solar power in a lot of deserts, installing solar panels
in there would be a no brainer...

And what typically makes for a good desert also typically makes for a good
location for solar power.

Two major benefits of orbital solar are that it doesn't have to deal
with the day/night cycle and it can put the power where it's needed--NYC
needs a lot more power than does Flagstaff, Arizona, but has a lot less
convenient desert.

In article , bthorn64
@suddenlink.net says...

On Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:38:07 -0800 (PST), bob haller
wrote:

however space solar could likely provide power for many more hours
than land based solar

a) But it will take many years longer to get Space Solar Power up and
running compared to putting solar tiles on your roof. Rooftop solar
can provide power next week. Space Solar Power is ten years away at
best. If the roof solar provides 8 hours of power a day, that's 29,200
hours of electricity from your roof before Space Solar Power provides
one hour. And then Space Solar Power only narrows the gap at the rate
of 16 hrs/day.

b) Solar Power (and wind) won't replace all power on Earth. It can't,
not from orbit and not from the ground. But solar can take a large
part of the load during the day and let traditional power (oil,
natural gas, etc.) handle the night and periods of calm winds.

This is enormously more efficient than Space Solar Power, and probably
will be no matter how low you get the cost of space launch.

This doesn't even get into the idea of ground-based solar farms in the
deserts and prairies.

There is something called "night". You might want to familiarize
yourself with it. If you are relying on "solar tiles" for your energy
needs you will become familiar with it very quickly.

"J. Clarke" scribbled something like ...

There is something called "night". You might want to familiarize
yourself with it. If you are relying on "solar tiles" for your energy
needs you will become familiar with it very quickly.


Where I am, energy use is a lot higher during the day than during the
night. A dramatic fall-off occurs as offices and factories send workers
home, and again as malls and theaters finish their days.

Also, insolation tends to heat buildings more during the day, requiring
energy to run cooling loops. Solar tiles would reduce the insolation, as
well as helping to run the cooling loops.

/dps

On Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:50:45 -0500, "J. Clarke"
wrote:


however space solar could likely provide power for many more hours
than land based solar

a) But it will take many years longer to get Space Solar Power up and
running compared to putting solar tiles on your roof. Rooftop solar
can provide power next week. Space Solar Power is ten years away at
best. If the roof solar provides 8 hours of power a day, that's 29,200
hours of electricity from your roof before Space Solar Power provides
one hour. And then Space Solar Power only narrows the gap at the rate
of 16 hrs/day.

b) Solar Power (and wind) won't replace all power on Earth. It can't,
not from orbit and not from the ground. But solar can take a large
part of the load during the day and let traditional power (oil,
natural gas, etc.) handle the night and periods of calm winds.

This is enormously more efficient than Space Solar Power, and probably
will be no matter how low you get the cost of space launch.

This doesn't even get into the idea of ground-based solar farms in the
deserts and prairies.

There is something called "night". You might want to familiarize
yourself with it. If you are relying on "solar tiles" for your energy
needs you will become familiar with it very quickly.

Uh, it is generally a good idea to read the post before you reply to
it, Clarke. Just sayin'. Since you obviously didn't, I'll spoonfeed it
to you right here...

"b) Solar Power (and wind) won't replace all power on Earth. It can't,
not from orbit and not from the ground. But solar can take a large
part of the load during the day and let traditional power (oil,
natural gas, etc.) handle the night and periods of calm winds."

There. Now go away kid, the grown-ups want to have a discussion.


Brian

Brian Thorn wrote:

a) But it will take many years longer to get Space Solar Power up and
running compared to putting solar tiles on your roof. Rooftop solar
can provide power next week. Space Solar Power is ten years away at
best. If the roof solar provides 8 hours of power a day, that's 29,200
hours of electricity from your roof before Space Solar Power provides
one hour. And then Space Solar Power only narrows the gap at the rate
of 16 hrs/day.

There's also the fact that solar cell manufacturing is a rapidly
advancing technology. In a decade or two the price is likely to drop to
the point that anyone putting a new roof on their house will want to do
it with solar cells. At that point the incentive for space based solar
will go down because of the ground availability. But also that's the
point when the economics of space based power begin to work out.

b) Solar Power (and wind) won't replace all power on Earth. It can't,
not from orbit and not from the ground. But solar can take a large
part of the load during the day and let traditional power (oil,
natural gas, etc.) handle the night and periods of calm winds.

Space based power can supplement base load. Ground based solar can't.
Neither will be able to replace hydroelectric, nuclear, coal and so on.

This is enormously more efficient than Space Solar Power, and probably
will be no matter how low you get the cost of space launch.

Until there is a mining and launching facilty on the Moon as suggested
by O'Neil and many others.

In sci.space.policy message , Wed, 16
Nov 2011 00:02:59, jacob navia posted:

1000 of those houses would make for 100 000 square meters, i.e. 10
square kilometers of solar power.

You must have unusually small square kilometers in your part of the
world. European square kilometres are considerably larger, at 10^6 m^2.


I have read that domestic solar power is one of the most dangerous power
sources, because of the high probability of falling off the roof while
fixing it.

--
(c) John Stockton, near London.
Web http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/ - FAQish topics, acronyms, and links.
Correct = 4-line sig. separator as above, a line precisely "-- " (RFC5536/7)
Do not Mail News to me. Before a reply, quote with "" or " " (RFC5536/7)

On Nov 16, 2:53*pm, Doug Freyburger wrote:
Brian Thorn wrote:

a) But it will take many years longer to get Space Solar Power up and
running compared to putting solar tiles on your roof. Rooftop solar
can provide power next week. Space Solar Power is ten years away at
best. If the roof solar provides 8 hours of power a day, that's 29,200
hours of electricity from your roof before Space Solar Power provides
one hour. And then Space Solar Power only narrows the gap at the rate
of 16 hrs/day.

There's also the fact that solar cell manufacturing is a rapidly
advancing technology. *In a decade or two the price is likely to drop to
the point that anyone putting a new roof on their house will want to do
it with solar cells. *At that point the incentive for space based solar
will go down because of the ground availability. *But also that's the
point when the economics of space based power begin to work out.

b) Solar Power (and wind) won't replace all power on Earth. It can't,
not from orbit and not from the ground. But solar can take a large
part of the load during the day and let traditional power (oil,
natural gas, etc.) handle the night and periods of calm winds.

Space based power can supplement base load. *Ground based solar can't.
Neither will be able to replace hydroelectric, nuclear, coal and so on.

This is enormously more efficient than Space Solar Power, and probably
will be no matter how low you get the cost of space launch.

Until there is a mining and launching facilty on the Moon as suggested
by O'Neil and many others.

what percentage of homes nationwide have good roofs for solar panels?

most arent orientated properly, or have site obstructions like trees
or buildings etc etc etc.

the vast makority of homes wouldnt be useful for solar panels

In article , bthorn64
@suddenlink.net says...

On Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:50:45 -0500, "J. Clarke"
wrote:


however space solar could likely provide power for many more hours
than land based solar

a) But it will take many years longer to get Space Solar Power up and
running compared to putting solar tiles on your roof. Rooftop solar
can provide power next week. Space Solar Power is ten years away at
best. If the roof solar provides 8 hours of power a day, that's 29,200
hours of electricity from your roof before Space Solar Power provides
one hour. And then Space Solar Power only narrows the gap at the rate
of 16 hrs/day.

b) Solar Power (and wind) won't replace all power on Earth. It can't,
not from orbit and not from the ground. But solar can take a large
part of the load during the day and let traditional power (oil,
natural gas, etc.) handle the night and periods of calm winds.

This is enormously more efficient than Space Solar Power, and probably
will be no matter how low you get the cost of space launch.

This doesn't even get into the idea of ground-based solar farms in the
deserts and prairies.

There is something called "night". You might want to familiarize
yourself with it. If you are relying on "solar tiles" for your energy
needs you will become familiar with it very quickly.

Uh, it is generally a good idea to read the post before you reply to
it, Clarke. Just sayin'. Since you obviously didn't, I'll spoonfeed it
to you right here...

"b) Solar Power (and wind) won't replace all power on Earth. It can't,
not from orbit and not from the ground. But solar can take a large
part of the load during the day and let traditional power (oil,
natural gas, etc.) handle the night and periods of calm winds."

There. Now go away kid, the grown-ups want to have a discussion.

plonk, kid.