Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
This sounds like something Elon Musk would want to go along with his internet satellite network. He could even store the energy in his Tesla battery farms, I'm sure Australia would be interested.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
More space distractions like buying OneWeb. Having been on the receiving end of waiting for a test result for my son recently I wouldn't trust UK gov to organise anything. Let alone something this complex.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cheesemp
More space distractions like buying OneWeb. Having been on the receiving end of waiting for a test result for my son recently I wouldn't trust UK gov to organise anything. Let alone something this complex.
Whoever not? Large scale government projects have such a good reputation. Look at the centralisation of NHS records. And of coming in on-time, on-budget. Like HS2. And ....
Oh, wait ....
;) :D
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Unfortunately when the solar beam misses the target several blocks around London get fried.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Saracen999
That proposal for modular mini-nuclear looked interesting too .... though again the greens will probably have a kinniption fit at the mere mention of the n-word.
Surely everyone going green is what they wanted all along, though?
Go Green - Glow Green!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
[GSV]Trig
I can't see the green guys going for this though, everyone wants cheap renewable energy, as long as they cant see the solar panels or wind turbines from their house...
Wind turbines look quite pretty, I think, especially when you have a hillside full of them in nice straight lines, all turning in unison.
The problem is the noise they make - We stayed somewhere hilly in Cornwall, where you were actually kept awake by the whooff-whooff-whooff noise... from the turbines several miles away!
We have just the one locally and when it's working it powers a whole office/industrial estate. Don't always see it turning, though.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ttaskmaster
...
Wind turbines look quite pretty, I think, especially when you have a hillside full of them in nice straight lines, all turning in unison.
....
where you were actually kept awake by the whooff-whooff-whooff noise... from the turbines several miles away!
....
Sure that wasn't dogs?
I quite like the look of them, too. They're .... somehow sorta serene. But for me, they're definitely a NIMBY thing.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Can't wait to see these mini nukes installed all over London.
What to do you mean they're too dangerous?....
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ttaskmaster
Surely everyone going green is what they wanted all along, though?
Go Green - Glow Green!!
Wind turbines look quite pretty, I think, especially when you have a hillside full of them in nice straight lines, all turning in unison.
The problem is the noise they make - We stayed somewhere hilly in Cornwall, where you were actually kept awake by the whooff-whooff-whooff noise... from the turbines several miles away!
We have just the one locally and when it's working it powers a whole office/industrial estate. Don't always see it turning, though.
That's weird. I live less than a kilometer from one - and can't hear a thing
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ohmaheid
That's weird. I live less than a kilometer from one - and can't hear a thing
I think it depends on the particulars of the design and interaction with the surrounding area.
I've heard relatively loud ones and some you can't hear at all.
All you hear is the screams of the flocks of birds getting shredded.
But it's okay, you just pop a ready oiled baking tray underneath and wait for dinner to drop.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
The UK government is the last organisation on the planet I'd trust not to rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish this sort of thing up.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gentle Viking
Wouldn't sun hitting such a surface in space constantly be pushing it out of its location, and so need constant adjustment ?
I doubt it. The impulse created from the photons of light hitting an orbital satellite wouldn't be significant enough to move a relatively massive satellite out of orbit. Otherwise all the GPS satellites and the space station etc wouldn't be able to maintain a geosynchronous orbit.
I think I've used the correct terms, but there again it has been 25 years since I graduated with my engineering degree where I specialized in orbital mechanics - and I've never looked at it since :)
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
What amount of solar panels would it take for this to become energy efficient? It takes A LOT of energy to push stuff out of Earth's gravity.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Quote:
Originally Posted by
ohmaheid
That's weird. I live less than a kilometer from one - and can't hear a thing
As Phil said, it depends on the design.
The big one we have here is silent, even when it's actually turning. The ones in Cornwall were like someone slowly swinging a grappling hook.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Shouldn't the project budget for that long discussed space elevator too, to get all the gear up into space?
Of course they'd need to build more than one, as the first would be jam packed with space tourists. :-)
...Not that I'd want to live anywhere near the anchor point!
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Quote:
Originally Posted by
OwP
Quote:
Originally Posted by
[GSV]Trig
I suggested similar about 20 years ago, a satellite array that converts solar energy to laser and fires that at ground stations..
I can't see the green guys going for this though, everyone wants cheap renewable energy, as long as they cant see the solar panels or wind turbines from their house...
One of the classic SciFi writers has it in a book, might be Arthur C Clarke. In one book they use high power microwaves to get the power back to earth, the system gets taken over and used as a weapon. Option 2 was a lower power diffuse receiver station, but that needed lots of room.
Failing to read the article makes u look a jackass; "Interestingly the official government press release admits the idea behind the SBSP system comes from science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who wrote about this concept back in 1941". Arthur C Clarke is a few years to young, Asimov got there 1st.
Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space
Quote:
Originally Posted by
alchemist83
Failing to read the article makes u look a jackass; "Interestingly the official government press release admits the idea behind the SBSP system comes from science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who wrote about this concept back in 1941". Arthur C Clarke is a few years to young, Asimov got there 1st.
First means nothing, his point is still perfectly valid.
In actual fact, Clarke first delivered two real-world engineering proposals for solar-powered geostationary comms satelites, which were later realised in the form of the the Telstar I comsat.
Getting abusive over it just confirms you are a jackass. I'm guessing PeterB's gentle caution did nothing for you?