Space Based Solar Power ( Sbsp )

Fossil fuels are destroying our world when the technology is present to stop this. Luckily in the past fifty years’ fossil fuel use has declined and is steadily declining more. Nonrenewable energy has worked, but it is primitive, in the future it will only be something of the past. But with the most support renewable energy can become a worldwide power source. Europe uses so of the most wind energy production process, so when will we? But one other type of renewable energy is becoming solar power. All energy comes from the sun, why not get our energy straight from the source, but materials to produce solar panels are very rare and expensive. Let’s make a change and

The sun is the source of all life on Earth. In just one hour the sunlight hitting the earth’s surface provides enough energy to power the global economy for a full year (Brown, 2015). The sun will continue to burn for billions of years, making it an unquestionably reliable source for renewable energy. Modern-day photovoltaic (PV) solar cells rely on the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon where light is used to free electrons from a solid surface - usually silicon - to create electricity. PV panels are typically installed on homes and buildings, or in ground arrangements, sometimes called solar farms.

In other words, even though other energy sources could solve the energy crisis, none boast the advantages and flexibility that Space Based Solar Power can provide. For example, Solar Power Satellites are extremely useful to the military, as they are capable of beaming energy down to any location on the world, and are able to support military operations all over the world. People may argue that the United States does not have the technology to develop Space Based Solar Power, and that it will never get into space (Mankins). However, the technology required is already available. According to Rouge, “Space Based Solar Power is a complex engineering challenge, but [it] requires no fundamental scientific breakthroughs or new physics to become a reality (Rouge).” If the United States is to prepare for a future energy crisis, it must act now and begin development on Space Based Solar Power.

In this modern fast paced world that we live in, there are many issues that are looked over, energy is one of these. As a world, we are dependant on dwindling fossil fuel supplies and take for granted electricity, oil, and gas. There are four completely renewable sources of energy around us that should be used and developed, they are: wind, growing plants, flowing water, and the sun. These sources of energy are the ones we should be tapping, because they are reliable and renewable. Harnessing the suns energy is the most certain and ultimate energy source. Looking at a brief history and some facts about solar energy, a glimpse of the future can be seen, a future not dependant on

For this report, I will conduct extensive research pertaining to the idea of solar renewable energy. Within the research, I will look to inform the reader on advantages and disadvantages of solar energy. Also, how solar energy will affect human in later years in the universe. Once research is conducted the report will then be organized into an informational report. The informational report will be shared with U.S solar marketers, John Barbour, and others whom are interested in knowing more information about solar energy. The main objective of this report is to inform the reader on specific advantages and disadvantages of solar energy.

Ed Welsh and Bo Haeberle discovered an idea of the solar feeder. After years of developing, the product became very successful. It even won several prizes like the best new product in the Bird Watch America trade show, the national birding convention. After this, Ed and Bo decided to sell their final product under new established company Squirrel Defense, Inc. They opened a small shop in Greensboro and begin the production of the solar feeder so they could take orders for the demanded product. Owners spent too much money and time on developing the product and now, their expectations are high because they have an advantage of unique product and even the investors showed interest in the company.

The sun is a massive burning ball of hydrogen that outputs gigantic quantities of energy every second. Sunlight is an excellent energy source and the future of using solar power is very exciting. The Sun's energy can be used to heat and cool buildings, generate electricity, operate communication, and GPS systems and even power solar cars. The sun’s energy is clean and solar panels used to harness the energy are low maintenance.

Although space is empty and vast, it contains the most amount of usable energy, the sun. However, even with something so mass and what appears infinite it has its limitations. “The amount of electrical power a spacecraft requires is dictated by the mission. Uninterrupted power must often be supplied for up to 10 years or more.” Solar power requires large equipment and must maintain line-of-sight with the sun, however, solar power has the most concentration of energy. Nuclear power can have large independent output while taking up less space. However, the power, though continuous, is not always constant. Both methods of power are able to sustain equipment energy needs for long journeys across the universe

Attention Getter: Let’s look ahead fifty years and see what the world is like. Imagine a world that is in total war with no end in sight. The cause behind this war is simple, oil. Everyone is fighting over those last few reserves of oil. How can this future be prevented? The answer is solar power.

Electricity generation and storage plays a vital part of space missions. Without which space exploration would not be possible. Beginning in the 1950’s, ‘Sputnik 1’ used batteries as its only power supply, since then the methods of electricity generation to power spacecrafts have developed and improved immensely, branching out to solar and nuclear systems.

When all of our natural fossil fuels are low or gone, solar energy will be one of the leading sources of energy that we will need in the future.

It was previously stated that “solar electric propulsion provides such high fuel economy that it reduces the amount of propellant required onboard vehicles for deep-space missions by as much as 90 percent”18. With this statement, alternate ions and configurations have been extensively researched and compared to find the best alternative solution.

In order for one to further understand the importance of solar energy, the problem of global warming must be explained. As defined by Webster’s Dictionary, “Global Warming” is an increase in the earth’s average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect. With an average increase in atmospheric temperatures, our planet is slowly deteriorating. In order to stall or halt this global destruction, countries must turn to solar energy as a cleaner alternative to the depletion of fossil fuels. Solar energy creates a homeostasis for the climate. Due to its ability to decrease global climate changes, solar power can address global warming in several ways.

As world population continues to rise and economic development drives energy consumption upward, the necessity of energy diversification will intensify. Obvious concerns for fossil fuels, such as their inherent finitude and the pollution costs, only further accentuate the need for adoption of non-fossil fuel energy sources. In the renewable energy market solar energy is an increasingly popular option. Over the past 15 years, falling prices and increasing efficiency have resulted in a 20% increase in solar energy production; furthermore, as the Sun provides enough radiant energy to Earth each day to power society for year, the potential for solar development is markedly high but requires substantial development (National Geographic 2014). Solar energy production often takes two general forms: for residential power production, the photo-voltaic cell panel (hereafter PV) is the dominant mode; for commercial production, solar energy is converted to thermal energy and harnessed via turbine. Regardless of implementation, the primary obstacles of solar energy adoption are geographic space and high costs; otherwise, solar energy is a remarkably adaptable technology that can be deployed nearly worldwide despite differences in climate (National Geographic 2014). For the purposes of this research report, the focus will revolve around PV

Almost everyone has heard of solar energy already. Although it is very well known, it has to be used by many people. The biggest problem is the cost of solar energy. There are only a select few who use solar energy. Solar energy has many benefits, but when one sees the price of solar energy, they turn their head the other way. In the beginning, solar cells were extremely expensive to make. They were used in special applications, such as aircraft. Performance mattered more than the cost of making solar cells. However, it is less expensive to make. This is where the problem lies, how to increase efficiency while keeping the manufacturing at a low cost. The energy consumption of solar energy falls below one percent of total energy consumption.