14-01-2013, 03:21 PM
BEAMED POWER TRANSMISSION
BEAMED POWER TRANSMISSION.docx (Size: 1.97 MB / Downloads: 35)
Modern society functions on the back of abundant amounts of cheap energy. In 2010 alone, world energy demand increased by over 5%, supported by large increases in consumption by China, India, and Russia. As the rest of the world continues to industrialize, an unavoidable effect is increased demand for energy. There is a demonstrable need for increased and varied sources of energy.
The desire of the modern man for more and more amenities and sophistication led to the unscrupulous exploitation of natural treasure. Though nature has provided abundant source of resources, it is not unlimited. Hence the exhaustion of the natural resources is eminent. The only exception to this is sunlight. Scientist who had understood the naked truth had thought of exploiting the solar energy and started experimenting in this direction even from 1970. However as the impotents source of non-conventional energy and due to the limited source of conventional energy emphasis has given for the better utilization of solar energy.
But the application of solar cell, photovoltaic cell etc, we are able to convert only a small percentage of solar energy into electrical energy. But by using beamed power transmission from solar power satellites we can envisage a higher percentage of conversion. The concept of Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) has been doing the rounds for decades with fantastic claims of 24 hour a day solar power beamed from space via microwave to any point on earth. SBSP was theorized over 40 years ago by renowned scientist Dr. Peter Glaser. Since then, in response to periodic energy crises, the idea has been re-evaluated from time to time by the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, major aerospace companies and countries such as Japan, India.
By contrast, ground-based solar power provides a vital and valuable addition to the Earth's energy needs, but is limited by these factors:
1] Weather. 2] Variable seasons.
3] Atmospheric blocking of sunlight. 4] Poor direct sunlight at higher and lower latitudes.
Because none of these factors applies in outer-space, an orbiting SBSP station can supposedly provide an estimated 6-8 times more power than a comparable solar cell on the Earth's surface. Unlike traditional sources of energy such as oil, gas and coal (the fossil fuels), SBSP doesn’t involve the burning of fossil fuels, which have been shown to cause severe environmental problems and global warming. SBSP is also more efficient than traditional solar power, as sunlight is almost five and a half times as strong in space as it is on the surface of the earth, as it does not have to interact with the atmosphere, weather, and day/night cycles. Space based solar power would be able to run almost continuously, with only short periods of time (of at most 75 minutes during the equinoxes when a satellite would be in the Earth’s shadow.)