5 ms·

It's a lot of solar panel. A quick search gives us a figure of 220 watts of power per square meter of space based solar panel. This would mean a 200MW solar col

by a_crc 6y ago

It's a lot of solar panel. A quick search gives us a figure of 220 watts of power per square meter of space based solar panel. This would mean a 200MW solar collector would need to be almost a million square meters in size. For reference that would be a square the length of 155 NYC city blocks on each side.

api 6y ago
Hmm... or maybe some smaller panels plus a really enormous and very very thin reflective collector for concentrating solar. Keep in mind that things can be very thin in space. It would still weigh a lot though, and heat would be a major issue. You wouldn't want to melt the solar panels. This would require someone much more knowledgable to determine if it's feasible. Edit: I wonder if you'd get some amount of solar sail effect in addition to the plasma rocket? Of course this would help you one way and hurt you the other way.
codeduck 6y ago
A million square metres is one square kilometre. It could be built but it would be heavy. A circular sail with a radius of just over 600 metres would do it.
- chasd00 6y ago
  wouldn't a million square metered be a megametre and not kilometre?
  - codeduck 6y ago
    no. 1000m * 1000m = 1000000m^2 or 1 km^2
SECProto 6y ago
> A quick search gives us a figure of 220 watts of power per square meter of space based solar panel. This would mean a 200MW solar collector would need to be almost a million square meters in size. For reference that would be a square the length of 155 NYC city blocks on each side. 200MW/(220w/m2) gives us an area of 1,000,000m^2, a square 1000m on each side. (side note: a NYC block isn't a very good length reference - they vary[1] from 250ft to 750ft depending which direction you're measuring. So the square would be 4 to 12 blocks on each side) [1] https://streeteasy.com/blog/how-many-nyc-blocks-are-in-one-mile/ https://streeteasy.com/blog/how-many-nyc-blocks-are-in-one-m...
jcims 6y ago
That's if it's illuminated by the sun. Blast it with a 500MW space-based laser and you'll up the tempo.

by a_crc 6y ago

api 6y ago

Hmm... or maybe some smaller panels plus a really enormous and very very thin reflective collector for concentrating solar. Keep in mind that things can be very thin in space. It would still weigh a lot though, and heat would be a major issue. You wouldn't want to melt the solar panels. This would require someone much more knowledgable to determine if it's feasible. Edit: I wonder if you'd get some amount of solar sail effect in addition to the plasma rocket? Of course this would help you one way and hurt you the other way.

codeduck 6y ago

A million square metres is one square kilometre. It could be built but it would be heavy. A circular sail with a radius of just over 600 metres would do it.

chasd00 6y ago
wouldn't a million square metered be a megametre and not kilometre?
- codeduck 6y ago
  no. 1000m * 1000m = 1000000m^2 or 1 km^2

SECProto 6y ago

> A quick search gives us a figure of 220 watts of power per square meter of space based solar panel. This would mean a 200MW solar collector would need to be almost a million square meters in size. For reference that would be a square the length of 155 NYC city blocks on each side. 200MW/(220w/m2) gives us an area of 1,000,000m^2, a square 1000m on each side. (side note: a NYC block isn't a very good length reference - they vary[1] from 250ft to 750ft depending which direction you're measuring. So the square would be 4 to 12 blocks on each side) [1] https://streeteasy.com/blog/how-many-nyc-blocks-are-in-one-mile/ https://streeteasy.com/blog/how-many-nyc-blocks-are-in-one-m...

jcims 6y ago

That's if it's illuminated by the sun. Blast it with a 500MW space-based laser and you'll up the tempo.