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TRANSMISSION via
SOLAR POWER
SATELLITE
Introduction
ALL THE many spaceflight concepts NASA has studied, the most
enormous was the Solar Power Satellite (SPS) fleet. Czech-born
physicist/engineer Peter Glaser outlined the concept in a brief article
in the esteemed journal Science in November 1968, and was
awarded a patent for his invention on Christmas Day 1973. In
October 1976, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NASA
began a three-phase, four-year joint study of the SPS concept. Total
study cost was $19.6 million, of which DOE paid 60%.
Glaser had noticed that a satellite in geosynchronous Earth orbit
(GEO), 35,786 kilometers above the equator, would pass through
Earth's shadow for only a few minutes each year. It was well known
that a satellite in equatorial GEO moves at the same speed the
Earth rotates at the equator (1609 kilometer per hour). This means
that, for people on Earth's surface, the satellite appears to hang
motionless over one spot on the equator. Glaser also understood
that electricity did not have to travel through wires; it could be
beamed from a transmitter to a receiver.
Glaser mixed these three ingredients and came up with a satellite in
equatorial GEO that would use solar cells to convert sunlight into
electricity, convert the electricity into microwaves, and beam the
microwaves at a receiving antenna (rectenna) on Earth. The
rectenna would turn the microwaves back into electricity, then wires
would carry it to the electric utility grid.
The great advantage an SPS enjoyed over a solar array on Earth's
surface was, as mentioned, that it would spend almost no time in
Earth's shadow. Earth's rotation meant that an Earth-surface solar
array could make electricity at most about half the time. The rest of
the time it would sit dormant under the night sky.
The problem with the SPS concept was that, if a solar satellite was
to contribute a meaningful amount of electricity to the interlinked
U.S. utility grids - and, by DOE's reckoning, "meaningful" meant
gigawatts - then it would have to be colossal by normal aerospace
engineering standards. The SPS silhouetted against the Sun in the
NASA artwork at the top of this post is typical: it would have
measured 10.5 kilometers long by 5.2 kilometers wide and had a
mass of 50,000 tons.
Paired with a rectenna a couple of kilometers across, such an SPS
would contribute five gigawatts to the U.S. electricity supply. DOE
estimated that 60 such satellites with a total generating capacity of
300 gigawatts could contribute meaningfully to satisfying projected
U.S. electricity demand in the 2000-2030 period.
MAGNETRON
A magnetron's job is to generate fairly short radio waves. If you
could see them, you could easily measure them with a school ruler.
They're usually no shorter than about 1mm (0.04 in; the shortest
division on a metric ruler) and no longer than about 30cm (12in; the
length of a typical school ruler). The magnetron does its stuff by
resonating like a flute when you pump electrical energy into it. But,
unlike a flute, it produces electromagnetic waves instead of sound
waves so you can't hear the resonant energy its making. (You can't
see that energy either, because your eyes aren't sensitive to short-
wavelength, microwave radiation).
ANTENNAS
PARABOLIC AND PHASE ARRAY ANTENNA
This parabolic reflector antenna is used in conjunction with horn
antenna as shown in the figure. It is made of metal or screen mesh.
As shown in the figure, during transmission EM-waves fall on to the
wide dish and gets radiated into the air, while during reception EM-
waves fall on to the dish and gets focused to the horn
antenna.Aperture of the parabola antenna is the area of outer circle
of the parabola.
The area A = 3.14 R2
Gain G = 6 (D/λ)2
D is the diameter of dish antenna and λ is the wavelength
Phased array antenna is developed using multiple antennas on a
common PCB or plane. The antennas used here are patch antennas
or dipole antennas in a array. This combination of multiple antennas
help improve gain as well as directivity. Individually all the antennas
of the array are controlled and hence EM waves can be radiated in
the different directions as desired. The same concept is applied in
YAGI antenna and parabolic dish antenna used for TV reception.
The other application of this type of antenna is radar/satellite based
communication systems.There are two types of arrangement
designed in this type of antenna. In one of this type of configuration,
all the antennas are fed from common transmitter or receiver. In the
other type of configuration, low power transmitter amplifier or LNA is
used with each of the array antennas.
Rectenna
A rectenna is a rectifying antenna—a special type of antenna that is
used for converting electromagnetic energy into direct current (DC)
electricity. They are used in wireless power transmission systems
that transmit power by radio waves. A simple rectenna element
consists of a dipole antenna with an RF diode connected across the
dipole elements. The diode rectifies the AC current induced in the
antenna by the microwaves, to produce DC power, which powers a
load connected across the diode. Schottky diodes are usually used
because they have the lowest voltage drop and highest speed and
therefore have the lowest power losses due to conduction and
switching. Large rectennas consist of an array of many such dipole
elements.The invention of the rectenna in the 1960s made long
distance wireless power transmission feasible. The rectenna was
invented in 1964 and patented in 1969[1] by US electrical engineer
William C. Brown, who demonstrated it with a model helicopter
powered by microwaves transmitted from the ground, received by an
attached rectenna.[2] Since the 1970s, one of the major motivations
for rectenna research has been to develop a receiving antenna for
proposed solar power satellites, which would harvest energy from
sunlight in space with solar cells and beam it down to Earth as
microwaves to huge rectenna arrays.[3] A proposed military
application is to power drone reconnaissance aircraft with
microwaves beamed from the ground, allowing them to stay aloft for
long periods. In recent years, interest has turned to using rectennas
as power sources for small wireless microelectronic devices. The
largest current use of rectennas is in RFID tags, proximity cards and
contactless smart cards, which contain an integrated circuit (IC)
which is powered by a small rectenna element. When the device is
brought near an electronic reader unit, radio waves from the reader
are received by the rectenna, powering up the IC, which transmits its
data back to the reader.
TYPES OF RECTENNAS
Radio frequency rectennas
The simplest crystal radio receiver, employing an antenna and a
demodulating diode (rectifier), is actually a rectenna - although it
discards the DC component before sending the signal to the
earphones. People living near strong radio transmitters would
occasionally discover that with a long receiving antenna, they could
get enough electric power to light a light bulb
Optical rectennas
Similar devices, scaled down to the proportions used in
nanotechnology, can be used to convert light directly into electricity.
This type of device is called an optical rectenna or nantenna.[7][8]
Theoretically, high efficiencies can be maintained as the device
shrinks, but efficiency has so far been limited. The University of
Missouri previously reported on work to develop low-cost, high-
efficiency nantennas (optical-frequency rectennas).[9] Other
prototype devices were investigated in a collaboration between the
University of Connecticut and Penn State Altoona using a grant from
the National Science Foundation.[10] With the use of atomic layer
deposition it has been suggested that conversion efficiencies of
solar energy to electricity higher than 70% could eventually be
achieved.
Carbon nanotube optical rectenna
n 2015, researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology fabricated an
optical rectenna using arrays of 2 million multiwall carbon nanotubes
(MWCNT) per cm2 coupled to nanoscale rectifying diodes. The
MWCNT, which act as optical antennae due to their favorably small
dimensions, are coated in aluminum oxide and capped with a
metallic top layer. This combination of MWCNT, oxide, metal is
claimed to be the world's fastest metal-insulator-metal (MIM)
tunneling diode, capable of rectifying optical frequencies. Individual
junctions were reported to have a capacitance of only 1.7 attofarads,
with switching time on the order of 1 femtosecond.
Complete WPT system via SPS
ADVANTAGES
Wireless Power Transmission system would completely eliminates
the existing high-tension power transmission line cables, towers and
sub stations between the generating station and consumers and f
acilitates the interconnection of electrical generation plants on a
global scale. It has more freedom of choice of both receiver and
transmitters. Even mobile transmitters and receivers can be chosen f
or the WPT system. The cost of transmission and distribution
become less and the cost of electrical energy for the consumer also
would be reduced. The power could be transmitted to the places
where the wired transmission is not possible. Loss of transmission
is negligible level in the Wireless Power Transmission; therefore, the
efficiency of this method is very much higher than the wired
transmission. Power is available at the rectenna as long as the WPT
is operating. The power failure due to short circuit and fault on
cables would never exist in the transmission and power theft would
be not possible at all. The development of Solar Power Satellites
gain the benefits of abundant, low-cost, nonpolluting energy. The
great advantage of placing the solar cells in space instead of on the
ground is that the energy is available 24 hours a day, and the
totalsolar energy available to the satellite is between four and five
times more than is available anywhere on Earth and 15 times more
than the average location.
DISADVANTAGES
The Capital Cost for practical implementation of WPT seems to be
very high and the other disadvantage of the concept is interference
of microwave with present communication systems. Heat reduction
is most important problem in space. All lost power converts to heat.
We need special heat reduction system in space. If we use high
efficient microwave transmitters, we can reduce weight of heat
reduction system. for over 80 % efficiency for the microwave
transmitter, which must include all loss in phase shifters,
isolators,antennas, power circuits.
APPLICATIONS
The SPS is expected to realize around 2030. Before the realization
of the SPS, we can consider the other application of the WPT. In
resent years, mobile devices advance quickly and require
decreasing power consumption. It means that we can use the
diffused weak microwave power as a power source of the mobile
devices with low power consumption such as RF-ID. The RF-ID is a
radio IC-tug with wireless power transmission and wireless
information. This is a new WPT application like broadcasting.
BIOLOGICAL IMPACTS
Common beliefs fear the effect of microwave radiation. But the
studies in this domain repeatedly proves that the microwave
radiation level would be never higher than the dose received while
opening the microwave oven door, meaning it is slightly higher than
the emissions created by cellular telephones Cellular telephones
operate with power densities at or below the ANSI/IEEE exposure
standards . Thus public exposure to WPT fields would also be below
existing safety guidelines. However Tests have also shown that the
energy density in the radio-frequency beam can be limited to safe
levels for all life forms.
CONCLUSION
The concept of Microwave Power transmission (MPT) andWireless
Power Transmission system is presented. The technological
developments in Wireless Power Transmission (WPT), the
advantages, disadvantages, biological impacts and applications of
WPT are also discussed. This concept offers greaterpossibilities for
transmitting power with negligible losses and ease of transmission.
Furthermore, it appears almost certain that there will be a shift
towards renewable sources and that solar will be a major
contributor. It is asserted that if the energy system ofthe world is to
work for all its people and be adequately robust, there should be
several options to develop in the pursuit of and expanded supply.
While the option of Space Solar Power may seem futuristic at
present, it is technologically feasible and, given appropriate
conditions, can become economically v i a b l e .
REFERENCE
[1] Nikola Tesla, “The Transmission of ElectricalEnergy Without
Wires as a Means for Furthering Peace,”Electrical World and
Engineer. Jan. 7, p. 21, 1905.
[2] Point-To-Point Wireless Power Transportation in Reunion Island
48th International Astronautical Congress, Turin, Italy, 6-10 October
1997 - IAF-97- R.4.08 J. D. Lan Sun Luk, A. Celeste, P.
Romanacce, L.Chane Kuang Sang, J. C. Gatina - University of
LaRéunion - Faculty of Science and Technology.
[3] Brown, W. C., “Beamed microwave power transmissionand its
application to space”, IEEETrans. Microwave Theory Tech., vol. 40,
no. 6, 1992,pp.1239-1250.
[4] Supporting Document for the URSI White Paper on
Solar Power Satellite Systems ,2006.
[5] McSpadden, J. O. and J. C. Mankins, “Space Solar
Power Programs and Microwave Wireless”.
[6] Glaser, P. E., “Power f rom the Sun, Science”, No.162,
1968, pp.857-886.Power Transmission Technology”, IEEE
Microwave Magazine, December 2002, pp.46-57.
[7] Matsumoto, H., “Research on Solar Power Station
and Microwave Power Transmission in Japan : Review
and Perspectives”, IEEE Microwave Magazine, December
2002, pp.36-45.
[8] Sivan, L., “Microwave Tube Transmitters Microwave
Technology Series 9-“, Chapman &Hall, 1994.
[9] Hatsuda, T., K. Ueno, M. Inoue, “Solar power
satellite interference assessment”, IEEE Microwave
Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 4, Dec. 2002, pp.65-70.
[10] Little, F. E., S. J. Kokel, C. T. Rodenbeck, K. Chang,
G. D., Arndt, and P. H. Ngo,“Development of
Retrodirective Control Transmitter for Wireless Power
Transmission”, The Radio Science Bulletin, No.311, 2004,
pp. 38-46.