PROOF – SOLAR ENERGY CAN BE BEAMED DOWN

Solar energy gathered in space can, it has now been proved, be beamed to earth.

An experiment funded by Discovery Channel as part of its Project Earth series proved the long-held hypothesis valid.

Supervised by physicist and former NASA administrator John C. Mankins, the project is first proof electricity-generating capacity can be managed wirelessly (as a "coherent beam") over a long distance. This experiment sent power 90+ miles between Hawaiian Islands, 100 times farther than it was sent in 1970's NASA experiments in the Mojave Desert.

Next step: More money, more solar panels, more phased array transmitters, better receivers, all to prove more power can be sent with more efficiency. Far short of the concept’s potential 64% efficiency, the experiment nevertheless produced 5 times the electricity of conventional solar cells.

Paul Rancatore, former Congressman, Florida: "We need a short, mid and long range plan for energy…Lately you've heard a lot of people talk about drilling…Don’t be focused on drilling down, focus on drilling up."

Wired Magazine: “120 gigawatts of solar power hitting the planet every second is more than all of human kind has used since the dawn of the industrial era. In space, you can tap into that without having to worry about losses in efficiency from the atmosphere, clouds or night…”

Mankins says a demonstration system could be in orbit within 6-7 years and a full scale operation system could be beaming power within 10-15 years. He envisions an “Apollo-like” program with a U.S. solar satellite industry making very small satellites for “bundling” in space to generate economies of scale.

Mankins detailed his concept in A Fresh Look At Space Solar Power: New Architectures, Concepts And Technologies and in Realizing the Opportunity.

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Experiment boosts hopes for space solar power; Phoenix Mars lander catches whirlwinds as they zip past camera
Becky Iannotta, September 12, 2008 (Space via MSNBC)
and
Researchers Beam ‘Space’ Solar Power In Hawaii
Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides, September 12, 2008 (Wired News)

WHO
John C. Mankins, physicist/former administrator, NASA; Discovery Channel

WHAT
For an episode of the Discovery Channel’s Project Earth, an experiment supervised by Mankins proved the technology for beaming solar power from satellites to Earth.

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WHEN
- The program will be Broadcast multiple times.
- The experiment was done over a four-month period.
- The actual transmission of solar energy-generated electricity was in May.
- Mankin worked at NASA for 25 years.

WHERE
- The episode is available on line.
- In the experiment, solar energy-generated electricity was transmitted as radio waves 92 miles (148 km) from solar receivers on a mountain in Maui to the main island of Hawaii.
- The project was supported by scientists in Japan, Texas and California.

WHY
- Low cost equipment produced miniscule reception but proved it is possible to transmit solar power as radio waves. Limited by the budget not physics. (Ex: the one receiver had could only receive in the horizontal direction)
- 9 solar panels were built to transmit 20 watts each but were cut to 2 watts per panel to get U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval.
- The $1 million experiment produced 20 watts, barely enough to light a small light bulb, but the receivers were so small that less than 1/1000th of 1% of the solar energy sent was received.
- 64% efficiency could be produced with larger arrays and better equipment.
- Mankin’s vision is to transmit solar power from 1,102 pound (500 kg)-orbiting satellites to lake-sized receiver stations on Earth.
- Mankin managed NASA's space-based solar program.
- The Discovery Channel paid for the experiment.

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QUOTES
- Mankins: "The test was in no way fully successful…I think it showed it is possible to transmit solar power quickly and affordably."
- Mankins: "…I think we need to maintain a portfolio of energy options. Using wind and other renewables in combination with space based solar power."