Building Space Based Solar Panels

It has 72 square metres 780 sq ft of panels.

Building space based solar panels.

The juno mission launched in 2011 is the first mission to jupiter arrived at jupiter on july 4 2016 to use solar panels instead of the traditional rtgs that are used by previous outer solar system missions making it the furthest spacecraft to use solar panels to date. Technical problems kept cropping up cost estimates remained stratospheric and as. Like fusion energy space based solar power seemed doomed to become a technology that was always 30 years away. Collecting solar energy in space with reflectors or inflatable mirrors onto solar cells or heaters for thermal systems wireless power transmission to earth via microwave or laser receiving power on earth via a rectenna a microwave.

In april of 2015 a research agreement. Reflectors or inflatable mirrors spread over a vast swath of space directing solar radiation onto solar panels. Self assembling satellites are launched into space along with reflectors and a microwave or laser power transmitter. These panels convert solar power into either a microwave or a laser and beam uninterrupted power down to earth.

Mankins and others estimate the total cost for developing building launching and assembling all the components of a space based solar power plant is on the order of 4 to 5 billion a fraction of. Research on space based solar power has been ongoing at caltech where professors harry atwater ali hajimiri and sergio pellegrino have received funding from the northrop grumman corporation to. Space based solar power essentially consists of three elements. Apart from providing around the clock power on demand beamed from space the new solar cells panels and production processes being developed through the program could revolutionize space based.