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Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025

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Re: Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025

#71

Post by viraptor »

dragontamer wrote: post #69
dandy23 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you can pump water up the mountain using solar in the day and use it in the night and on rainy days.

Yes, pumped Hydro is good. But in practice, seems to only store energy for "days", not "months". Furthermore, water restrictions (especially in the West) force the dams to release water even when electricity isn't needed. Because people need water to drink. A dam can serve multiple masters... but one of those masters will take priority. In most cases, water-rights will take priority over energy storage. That is to sa…

Also during long persistent rain, the higher level may be already full and you can't release water from it without causing (even more) flooding.

Re: Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025

#72

Post by ricardobeat »

dragontamer wrote: post #69
dandy23 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you can pump water up the mountain using solar in the day and use it in the night and on rainy days.

Yes, pumped Hydro is good. But in practice, seems to only store energy for "days", not "months". Furthermore, water restrictions (especially in the West) force the dams to release water even when electricity isn't needed. Because people need water to drink. A dam can serve multiple masters... but one of those masters will take priority. In most cases, water-rights will take priority over energy storage. That is to sa…

Do you have an example of a place where that is a significant issue? The upstream flow is the same as it was before a dam is built. You’d imagine this would only become a problem if nearly the entire flow was being consumed, which is unthinkable.

Re: Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025

#73

Post by dragontamer »

ricardobeat wrote: post #72
dragontamer wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, pumped Hydro is good. But in practice, seems to only store energy for "days", not "months". Furthermore, water restrictions (especially in the West) force the dams to release water even when electricity isn't needed. Because people need water to drink. A dam can serve multiple masters... but one of those masters will take priority. In most cases, water-rights will take priority over energy storage. That is to sa…

Do you have an example of a place where that is a significant issue? The upstream flow is the same as it was before a dam is built. You’d imagine this would only become a problem if nearly the entire flow was being consumed, which is unthinkable.

> You’d imagine this would only become a problem if nearly the entire flow was being consumed, which is unthinkable.

The Colorado River hasn't touched the ocean in decades man. Its been fully consumed for a long, long time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_Delta#After_dam...

Hoover Dam will probably not be a pumped-hydro plant in our lifetime. Its not about technology, its about politics and water rights management.

Re: Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025

#74

Post by thx-2718 »

csomar wrote: post #49
thx-2718 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it already then be energy on earth but now it's energy that humans can make use of? It's a benefit because it's energy that doesn't require releasing carbon to aquire and make use of.

make use of -> convert it to heat. Same effect.

You need energy to do work. This can do work that doesn't release CO2. That's the point.

Re: Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025

#76

Post by rep_movsd »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #40

Lots of doubt. But don't doubt this: anybody who bets against orbital solar will lose, and it won't take long. The costs are all going in the direction to make space-based solar the winning option.

We lived on only solar power for 7 years. For the last 2 years if I hadn't had my precious Honda GK200 petrol/kerosene generator, it would have made it quite impossible to use a desktop computer effectively. My whole successful career of 20 years as a software dev might have got upset,

Betting on solar is a silly idea. Its just a way for oil companies to keep shipping baseload

Re: Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025

#77

Post by runsWphotons »

harimau777 wrote: post #53
quaintdev wrote: post #2

I wonder what happens to the air craft or living things when they get caught in this high energy beam

The beams could be quite narrow. We did the calculations in a course I took and from what I recall, all of America's power could be compressed to a 15 meter beam. So they could probably just setup a no fly zone around the beam. Birds might still be a problem, but don't the alternatives (e.g. wind power) already kill birds?

Lets say Im not very interested in practicality but just the theory of this. How does it work? How can I send power from one side of my room to the other if I don't care about paying more.

Re: Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025

#79

Post by MilStdJunkie »

dragontamer wrote: post #63
csomar wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing it's because Japan doesn't have the Sahara Desert.

Sahara Desert is terrible for solar panels, and is why so many researchers are experimenting with molten salt and superheated steam. Solar panels lose efficiency when hot. The best locations are sunny but cool, like Germany. Not deserts

Man, there's got to be some passive cooling Einstein-Szilard hijinks that could be gotten on the backside of those hot-climate panels. Seems like a pity if not . . although, devil's advocate, solar viability more or less hinges on dirt-cheap panels, and having some kind of whiz-bang passive cooling on the backside is going to screw with that a whole bunch.

Re: Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025

#80

Post by ta1243 »

runeks wrote: post #33

> However, even if Japan successfully deploys a set of orbital solar arrays, the tech would still be closer to science fiction than fact. That’s because producing an array that can generate 1 gigawatt of power – or about the output of one nuclear reactor – would cost about $7 billion with currently available technologies.

Meanwhile Hinkley C, a 3.2GW plant, currently costs about $30b

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-61519609

So with currently available technology price is the same as nuclear even assuming that $7b overruns

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