[AR] Re: Way off topic was also arocket Digest V3 #50
- From: Bill Claybaugh <wclaybaugh2@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:34:23 -0400
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 18, 2015, at 3:34 PM, Keith Henson <hkeithhenson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 10:11 PM, Henry Vanderbilt
> <hvanderbilt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> Yes. One proposal I saw (a while back) for intercontinental power
>> transmission in fact involved beaming it via one or more passive orbital
>> reflectors.
>
> Henry, it's the economics. The cost of the power at the point it goes
> into the grid is at least twice and more likely 4 times the source
> cost due to transmission loss. Even hydropower at 2 cents per kWh
> would be more expensive than power from coal. And you have the cost
> of the hardware on both ends, plus the reflector in space. The
> rectanna hardware is about $200/kW, a ground based transmitter is
> about $1000/kW. $1200/kW would add around 1.5 cents per kWh.
>
>> In other words, it's implicit in any technology that would
>> enable practical SPS that intercontinental power transmission would also
>> become practical, and at some significantly lower requirement for
>> on-orbit hardware mass and complexity.
>
> I have been using 500 tons per square km for structure in space. That
> would be 2000 tons for 4 square km. At $200,000 per ton for transport
> and perhaps another $100k/ton for the hardware, the cost would be
> about $600 M for 5000 MW, or $.12 M/MW, $.12 per W or $120/kW.
>
> The killer is the loss multiplier of at least two and more likely 4 x.
> On top of that, you need a stranded power source of 10-20 GW. The
> physics says it will work, the economics indicates it does not make
> sense to do so.
>
>> Henry
>>
>> On 3/17/2015 12:42 AM, Bill Claybaugh wrote:
>>> The guy who wants to build solar power satellites thinks power can not be
>>> shipped across an ocean.
>>>
>>> Really?
>
> Really. It's economic. 4000 km and the cost of shipping no cost
> power is up to more than generating the power from coal.
>
> Keith
>
And this will never change? You are the guy talking about trillion dollar
investments as if they were everyday events.....
As has already been pointed out, a power cable from Iceland to Britain is in
work. Are you certain you understand the current economics? Are you certain
that no improvement will *ever* occur?
Bill
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