News STUDIES OF SOLAR POWER SATELLITES NEARING COMPLETION FREDERICK H. OSBORN, JR. SUNSAT Energy Council Three major studies of solar power satellites are nearing completion in Washington DC. The largest is being conducted by the United States Department of Energy, Office of Energy Research, Satellite Power System Project Office. The study is titled “DOE/NASA Satellite Power System Concept Development and Evaluation Program.” It is under the direction cf Frederick A. Koomanoff. The SPS Project Office was established in 1978. Its goal is to determine whether solar power satellites are technically feasible, environmentally, politically and socially acceptable, and economically viable. The reference base for the project is a reference system which has been devised by NASA purely for study and discussion. The system is conceived as a satellite in geosynchronous orbit, 10 km long, 5 km wide and 1/2 km thick. It supports an array of either silicon or gallium arsenide photovoltaic cells. These cells convert solar radiation for delivery to a transmitting antenna approximately 1 km in diameter on a yoke extending from one end of the satellite. The transmitter sends a microwave beam at a frequency of 2.45 GHz to a receiving antenna on the earth which at 35° latitude would be an ellipse 10 km x 13 km. This receiving antenna (rectenna) converts the microwaves to 5 GWe for delivery to the distribution lines of utility companies. The reference system assumes for study purposes that 60 satellites and rectennas could be constructed over a 30-year period. Definition of the reference system has been carried out by NASA at the Johnson Space Center and the Marshall Space Flight Center. There are 30 program elements (subprojects) in this portion of the study. The environmental assessment portion of the study consists of 75 program elements subcontracted to the Argonne National Laboratory, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Commerce, the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, several universities and a few corporations. There are 25 program elements in the societal assessment. These are conducted principally by PRC Energy Analysis Company. Public opinion was tested by questionnaires sent out to members of the Citizens Energy Project, the L-5 Society, and the Forum for the Advancement of Students in Science and Technology (FASST). Fifteen comparative assessments, all under the direction of Argonne National Laboratory, were designed to determine the economic viability of SPS as compared with alternative sources of energy. A final list of five planning and analysis elements, four under Argonne National Laboratory and one under PRC Energy Analysis Company, completes the list of subcontracts. The Satellite Power System Project Division conducted an SPS Program Review at the Nebraska Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, April 22-25, 1980. One hundred ninety-six papers were presented at 31 sessions. There were 234 participants.
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