0191 -9067/81 /010053-08S02.00/0 Copyright 1981 SUNSAT Energy Council SOME CRITICAL ASPECTS OF SOLAR POWER SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY I. V. FRANKLIN British Aerospace Dynamics Group, Bristol Division Abstract — It is sometimes said that the SPS can be designed and built using an extension of existing and proven technologies. This is not quite true, and this paper seeks to identify those areas of technology which either need to be established or those areas which need extension, with an indication of the required scope. The paper does not intend to cover the whole field but rather to concentrate on some selected areas such as photovoltaic conversion which requires development leading to improved efficiency, low costs, high production rates, and mass production methods for supplying finished fully integrated modules of solar array blankets. A second example concerns the development of large scale space structures and their behaviour. The third area is concerned with the power transmission system, and what the requirements may be if Europe is to consider receiving SPS generated power. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to review the main technology areas that are involved in the total concept of the solar power satellite (SPS) and to identify certain critical items within them and to indicate the scale of the problems that would be faced and to relate and compare them with current and expected achievements. It is not the intention to provide a full system description, including operations, as other papers will have provided this information. Before proceeding to the technology discussion, the main elements that comprise the SPS system will be identified, and they are based on the NASA/DOE Reference Designs which are described fully in the Reference System Report (1). The full SPS system requires the application of a very wide range of technical skills and applied technology and it would be unrealistic to comment on all of them. Therefore certain technologies have been selected as indicators of what needs to be done. The selected areas are • Photovoltaic conversion technology leading to improved efficiency and performance, reduced costs, high production rates, and mass production methods for supplying fully integrated modules of solar array blankets • The development of large-scale space structures and their dynamic behaviour • Power transmission systems, with particular reference to European requirements for receiving SPS generated power. Space transport systems (STS), although of great importance to SPS will not be considered within the context of the present paper, as they too are expected to be adequately covered elsewhere. It should be recognised from the outset that the SPS concept cannot be compared with any existing developments either in spacecraft or terrestrial power generation
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==