3 ms·
The naive engineer in me thinks that a baloon floating at 4k-5k meters above sea level, covered with solar panels, would still get most of the efficiency, but w
by simonebrunozzi 5y ago
The naive engineer in me thinks that a baloon floating at 4k-5k meters above sea level, covered with solar panels, would still get most of the efficiency, but would also be cheaper and simpler to build.
Where am I horribly wrong?
- giantrobot 5y agoTransmission loses would probably make a balloon a wash vs ground-based solar. Then there's the liability of some mass of solar panels floating over populated areas. At 5km an untethered balloon would have a fairly wide area it could land on. A 5km tether dragging around or falling on the ground could cause a lot of damage as well. There's also dangerous conditions when atmospheric conditions cause the balloon to lower its altitude, slacking the tether, and low altitude wind whipping it around. I don't see any utility of untethered balloons.