0191-9067/83 $3.00 + .00 Copyright ® 1984 SUNSAT Energy Council AN APPROACH FOR THE APPLICATION OF GENERIC TECHNOLOGIES TO SOLAR POWER SATELLITES* PETER E. GLASER Vice President Arthur D. Little, Inc. Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140, USA Abstract — The evolution of the solar power satellite (SPS) concept is summarized and the generic technologies to meet the SPS requirements are discussed. The synergy with space technology development is considered and a “terracing” approach to SPS development presented to mitigate impediments associated with implementation of large-scale projects related to technical uncertainties, project control, and investments. The activities associated with this approach and the near-term decisions with reference to the SPS are discussed. The factors which will influence the development of the SPS including coordination requirements are considered. INTRODUCTION Energy experts generally agree that inexhaustible and renewable energy sources will be needed to meet global energy demands in the 21st century. Research to date has identified only two promising methods for large-scale, continuous energy conversion, other than nuclear fission, which do not depend on fossil fuels: thermonuclear fusion, and energy converted in space for use on Earth. At present, fusion is under active investigation. There is, however, no concerted research program devoted to energy from space. Future economic and geopolitical stability may be influenced by the results of long-term alternative energy R&D programs, so that dependence on the outcome of only the one advanced R&D effort, the fusion program, entails significant risks. Comparative assessments of promising energy conversion methods including energy from space is required to maintain focussed energy R&D efforts. In this context, energy from space, using the concept of solar power satellites (SPS), deserves continuing consideration. The solar power satellite, proposed in 1968 to capture the energy radiated by the sun, represents an energy conversion method capable of generating electricity continuously (baseload) on a global scale (1). Besides providing energy to Earth, the SPS can be a focus for expanding human activities in space. Assessments of the technical, economic, environmental, and societal issues associated with the SPS have not identified any single constraint that would negate the SPS concept (2). High front-end costs have been cited as a prime reason for delaying even an R&D program (3). These cost projections assumed a very large-scale program including a commitment to an integrated development and implementation program that could meet 25% of the U.S. electricity demand by 2030, and discounted the *Presented at the 34th Congress of the International Astronautical Federation, Budapest, Hungary, 10-15 October 1983.
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