Comment Re:If you only knew.... (Score 1) 217
There is no nighttime in space. There are no clouds in space, no atmosphere to dilute the sun's energy, no birds to fly by and crap on the panels. That means 24h efficiency.
Yes, but then again there's the transmission problems... the earth DOES move. The solar sat would have to be able to track ground stations properly to be able to beam enough power to make it work. That, and there would have to be ground stations all around the circumference of the earth, most likely at the equator. (so as the energy travels as close to perpendicular to the earth's surface.)
Yes, you COULD build a 10-square-mile solar panel farm in New Mexico, but you wouldn't even be able to get the current out of state before line-losses, frequency problems, and other transmission problems ate all of your energy.
You'd do it the same way the other power companies do... Use an inverter to covert DC to square-pulsed AC, and then up the voltage to 100Kv or so, and haul it across the state. It's how the Central Valley Project here in California gets power from the dams in northern Cal. to the isolated farms in middle, and southern Cal.
Yes, but then again there's the transmission problems... the earth DOES move. The solar sat would have to be able to track ground stations properly to be able to beam enough power to make it work. That, and there would have to be ground stations all around the circumference of the earth, most likely at the equator. (so as the energy travels as close to perpendicular to the earth's surface.)
Yes, you COULD build a 10-square-mile solar panel farm in New Mexico, but you wouldn't even be able to get the current out of state before line-losses, frequency problems, and other transmission problems ate all of your energy.
You'd do it the same way the other power companies do... Use an inverter to covert DC to square-pulsed AC, and then up the voltage to 100Kv or so, and haul it across the state. It's how the Central Valley Project here in California gets power from the dams in northern Cal. to the isolated farms in middle, and southern Cal.
