Case 5 MEO Suntower (x21) Case 5 represents a three-orbital inclination, 21 SPS architecture involving the SunTower system concept deployed at a middle-Earth-orbit (MEO) altitude of 6,000 km. The orbital inclination of 30 degrees allows the constellation to provide essentially continuous baseload electrical energy to approximately 21 Mega-town-class terrestrial markets. Each Mega-town is served by a single rectenna producing 250 MW, with the total constellation producing 5.25 GW. The deployment scenario includes emplacing 7 SunTowers every 2 years for 6 years, with 11 rectennas deployed in the first year and then 1 rectenna per SunTower deployed beginning in the third year (for a total of 21 SunTowers and 21 rectennas after 6 years). Case 5 was designed to allow a reasonable comparison of a MEO constellation to a single GEO SPS producing approximately 5 GW. This case achieves an overall IRR of about 12%, with total revenues of approximately $321 B, costs of $87 B, and an undiscounted net present value of about $234 B, or $3 B when discounted at a rate of 10%. This basic MEO constellation approach represents a significant improvement in start-up costs when compared to GEO-based architectures. Case 5 yields an investment- to-first-power requirement only 4% of that in the updated 1979 Reference ($11 B versus more than $250 B) and about 10% that of the GEO SolarDisc approach (Case 4). In addition, the MEO approach allows a global market to be served from the first year of operations, as compared to the GEO cases in which only a single site market can be served initially (or possibly a regional market in the case of the SolarDisc). Case 6 MEO Suntower (xl) Case 6 is a single SPS in a MEO orbit at an orbital inclination about 30 degrees and an altitude of 6,000 km. The orbital inclination of 30 degrees allows the SPS to provide periodic (not continuous) electrical energy to approximately 11 Mega-town-class or smaller terrestrial markets. Each market is served by a single rectenna producing 250 MW. The deployment scenario includes emplacing 1 SunTower and 11 rectenna sites during a period of 4 years. This case illustrates the basic building block approach for MEO scenarios considered in this study. Case 6 is not intended as a realistic case, per se. The IRR of less than 1% undiscounted is low due to the nonrecurring capital costs of establishing a manufacturing base for the fabrication of SunTower SPS systems. The financial analysis yields a spiked cost profile as another result of the one year deployment scenario. The basic MEO, Mega-town SPS characterized by a single SunTower (or other, comparable approaches) represents a dramatic improvement in “start-up” costs when compared to the 1979 Reference System (Case 2). The required investment-to-first-power is reduced by more than 20-fold, to less than less than $9 B for a single SunTower. The low IRR clearly indicates, however, that MEO or other non-GEO cases requires the deployment of a full constellation to achieve viability. A potential line of further investigation for this case could involve varying the deployment time to a period more typical of large terrestrial projects. Case 7 SolarDisc (xl) Case 7 examines several market-driven variations on the Case 1 scenario of a single SolarDisc deployed in GEO. These are: (a) a single Mega-city at 5 GW, (b) a single city at 1 GW, (c) a single Mega-town at 250 MW, and (d) a single town at 50 MW. This case illuminates difierences in the basic GEO scenario that arise from sizing the system to serve markets of various sizes. The decision was made to use electronic beam steering based upon a phased array comprised of small,
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