2013 — A Comparison of a Solar Power Satellite Concept to a Concentrating Solar Power System
September 10, 2013
Author: David Smitherman, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
Abstract: A comparison is made of a solar power satellite (SPS) concept in geostationary Earth orbit to a concentrating solar power (CSP) system on the ground to analyze overall efficiencies of each infrastructure from solar radiance at 1 AU to conversion and transmission of electrical energy into the power grid on the Earth’s surface. Each system is sized for a 1-gigawatt output to the power grid and then further analyzed to determine primary collector infrastructure areas. Findings indicate that even though the SPS concept has a higher end-to-end efficiency, the combined space and ground collector infrastructure is still about the same size as a comparable CSP system on the ground.
Full paper availability at:
NASA Technical Report Server: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20140003190
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2013-5344