3 ms·
Note that it works when the mirror is the size of the solar farm and I'll admit that is kind of cool. However, my math says this just does not check out. Accord
by uberman 2y ago
Note that it works when the mirror is the size of the solar farm and I'll admit that is kind of cool. However, my math says this just does not check out. According to Space.com these mirrors will be 10m by 10m
https://www.space.com/orbiting-mirror-boost-solar-power-production https://www.space.com/orbiting-mirror-boost-solar-power-prod...
So, great for a large house or two but meaningless for a utility scale solar farm that could be 100k times that size. For reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Valley_Solar_Ranch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Valley_Solar_Ranch
Since these only make sense from a sunlight perspective for a small handful of consumers at a time, how will they justify the launch costs when selling nighttime sunlight that could be handled by a battery?
Assuming NASA even let them put consumer level space mirrors in place. Given the hullabaloo about Startlinks ruining the night sky.
- ahazred8ta 2y agoNo, the light on the ground will be spread out at least 2 miles wider than the size of the mirror itself, because the Sun is half a degree wide and not a point source. It will also be very very dim unless the mirror is several miles wide.