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The ground stations are basically just antenna wire. For a large plant they would contribute just 0.7 cents/kWh to the total cost, according to the book The Cas
by DennisP 4y ago
The ground stations are basically just antenna wire. For a large plant they would contribute just 0.7 cents/kWh to the total cost, according to the book The Case for Space Solar Power.
- ben_w 4y agoAlso needs a microwave frequency rectifier, plus installation costs are non-trivial as evidenced by the difference between the cost/W of a PV cell and a PV farm. Also, cheapest ground-based PV in the world is 1.04¢/kWh (Saudi Arabia), and the cheapest in the USA is 1.50¢/kWh (New Mexico), so 0.7¢/kWh is already a large percentage. https://commercialsolarguy.com/lowest-solar-power-prices-in-the-world/ https://commercialsolarguy.com/lowest-solar-power-prices-in-...
- DennisP 4y agoJust to clarify, the 0.7 cents is total ground station cost, according to my source. At ideal locations, ground solar is super cheap, but the microwave receiver works anywhere. Not needing storage is a big difference, too.
- ben_w 4y agoThat seems a bit optimistic, but I don't have the book, so OK. (I really should get around to blogging what I think is wrong with this whole approach to space solar, where it works despite that, and how to improve on it for Earth usage; it comes up here every so often, and linking to my blog is easier than disjointed comments without images).