3 ms·
How about a conductive space elevator? You could physically wire solar panels to the end.
by HPsquared 3y ago
How about a conductive space elevator? You could physically wire solar panels to the end.
- ben_w 3y agoYou could, but the minimum length of a space elevator is 35,786 km and the maximum distance between two points on the surface of the Earth is about 20,000 km, so you might as well just build a surface power grid: your winter solstice midnight is someone else's midday summer solstice, and no dunkelflaute is worldwide. Much easier on the ground, too, because you don't need to invent even one single new tech — not even better superconductors because even aluminium will work if you make the "wire" thick enough (scare quotes because, by coincidence, the circumference of the earth, 40,000 km, almost perfectly matches the conductivity of aluminium, 3.8e7 S/m, and you get a 1 Ω line from a 1 square meter cross section, which is a pretty thick "wire"). Plus, once it gets down from a space elevator, you then have to distribute it around the ground anyway.