extra terrestrial solar field??

[shantanu3112]

Hi, the idea is to build a solar field in space, pretty close to the sun. i wonder if by increasing the intensity of light we can improve the amount of current produced.

 

i have 3 questions:

 

1) does the amt of current generated from solar panels depend upon intensity of incident radiation?

 

 

2) Is it possible to convert electricity into a highly coherent beam (eg. electromagnetic wave or something alike) and transfer it through a great distance??

 

 

3) is there a formula to calculate electrical output using intensity of sunlight or distance b/w source and panel??

[Iggy]

Hi, the idea is to build a solar field in space, pretty close to the sun. i wonder if by increasing the intensity of light we can improve the amount of current produced.

 

i have 3 questions:

 

1) does the amt of current generated from solar panels depend upon intensity of incident radiation?

 

 

2) Is it possible to convert electricity into a highly coherent beam (eg. electromagnetic wave or something alike) and transfer it through a great distance??

 

 

3) is there a formula to calculate electrical output using intensity of sunlight or distance b/w source and panel??

 

The intensity of solar radiation decreases with the square of the distance. You can transmit power wirelessly (the preferred method is via microwaves).

 

I'm not sure about electrical output vs. intensity.

 

What is it you're thinking? What is it you would propose?

Edited April 7, 2013 by Iggy

[Enthalpy]

Power transmission by microwaves is already unreasonable from geosynchronous orbit, or 36,000km away, where is demands square kilometers of antennas both in orbit and on the ground. Forget it for bigger distances.

 

Yes, the produced intensity increases nearly as much as light concentration, as long as the cells don't overheat etc. This is done on Earth to reduce the area of costly Solar cells, but needs cells specially designed and actively cooled. The efficiency even improves a bit because the higher current density means a bigger cell voltage.

 

Do Solar energy, but on Earth. Solar thermal energy and concentrated photovoltaics are economic, while space Solar has big obvious difficulties.