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Thread: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

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    UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    Sees potential for an unlimited constant zero carbon power source.
    Read more.

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    I've seen this movie...



    So...How long until some crazy guy with a weird exosuit turns up...

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    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...

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    Wouldn't sun hitting such a surface in space constantly be pushing it out of its location, and so need constant adjustment ?

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    Quote Originally Posted by [GSV]Trig View Post
    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.

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    And this is one of the reasons why I don't fear for the future. As far fetched as it may seem at the moment, we will, eventually, be able to harness solar, wind and water power to produce clean energy. Necessity is the mother of invention.

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    So is this a sensible investigation or have they thrown 5 quid at it and are hoping it acts as some sort of distraction from all the screwups they are making right now?

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    This government can't even set up a track - and - trace in a pandemic. A solar array in space??
    Don't make me laugh.

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    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.
    A lesson learned from PeterB about dignity in adversity, so Peter, In Memorium, "Onwards and Upwards".

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    If you disagree with the government, then congratulations your house is briefly the new solar collection facility

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    I think there's more chance of me getting a nice shiny RTX3080 for Christmas than there is of the UK Government pulling this off.

    Also have they given any thought about what to do when it's cloudy. Like it is 90% of the time in the UK.

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen999 View Post
    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.
    Yeah I saw this a while back when looking into Rolls Royce, makes shares a tasty option

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    Quote Originally Posted by jimcumming View Post
    I think there's more chance of me getting a nice shiny RTX3080 for Christmas than there is of the UK Government pulling this off.

    Also have they given any thought about what to do when it's cloudy. Like it is 90% of the time in the UK.
    Err its in space the clouds dont impact the collection, and you use a wavelength thats not impeded by cloud to get it back down.

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    SimCity 2000 had these.

    As for modular nukes, I suggested these some time ago but the issue was the design essentially ripped off a nuke from a sub. These operate on a higher U235 enrichment level than civilian designs and I think anti-proliferation treaties are an obstacle as well as the sheer cost and energy of enriching uranium on such a scale. Another issue is the differences in failure modes and management of a sub reactor. The sub reactor has loads of water around and is a relatively low thermal output to manage, making pressuriser management the key. Having this on land away from large water sources could make for a terrible toss up between a water hammer event and thermal runaway. The modular design, I'm guessing, will address these shortcomings.

    Now, time to learn to hack satellites and fry my enemies. Seriously, this is basically a huge space laz0r.

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

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    Last edited by OwP; 16-11-2020 at 08:38 PM.

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    Re: UK government looking at harvesting solar power in space

    Someone's being playing SimCity 2000

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