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California Approves Orbiting Solar Panel Deal, Aims for 2016 Launch
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Cheap, Printed Solar-Powered LEDs Could Change 1.5 Billion Lives
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EBone
12/04/09

In reply to California Approves Orbiting Solar Panel Deal, Aims for 2016 Launch
I'm meeting with PG&E later this month and I can't wait to rattle their cage about this.
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Molbork
12/04/09

In reply to California Approves Orbiting Solar Panel Deal, Aims for 2016 Launch
As great as the idea is, if transmission issues are solved, I don't think I would want to support such a system.

The major problem I see is, that an array like this would be placed outside the path of sunlight hitting Earth. So we would be adding energy (eventually heat, thanks entropy!) to our planet.
Yes yes, the area of a solar array would be minuscule compared to the cross section of the Earth, but when we are worried about 1-2 degree increases in our avg. temp., it seems like every bit counts.

We got plenty of space on the ground here, or roofs, for solar panels. Why worry about the costs and issues with sending panels to space.
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Edited by Molbork at 12/04/09 2:26 AM Molbork was starred Molbork was unstarred

Zomb
12/04/09

@Molbork: I'm pretty sure most of the heat would be dissipated outside of the earths atmosphere and the only heat growth would be from converting the energy to whatever medium it needs to be in.

Second solar panels are much more efficient in space because there is no atmosphere and they can receive sunlight for longer periods of the day, without having to worry about clouds.

Coal would still generate a far larger global warming effect. The only problem is the green energy sources never replace any energy sources their always in addition too. The world uses an increasing amount of energy every year. (population growth, economic growth, new tech).
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Molbork
12/04/09

@Zomb: I don't like burning coal either, but there are other technologies that are in use that could use more funding(loans for solar panels for private homes could be one). No reason to stop research though just to me construction seems unnecessary.

Yes it runs all day and yes there is 4 times more energy per area in space. 1.3k W/m^2 vs ~330 W/m^2(if you adjust your panel for latitude), so it all depends on transmission efficiency. On short distances it's fine, like from one side of the room to the other, I've read that it is up to 75% efficient. But transmitted power is 1/r^s, as in increase the distance by 2, the received power decreases to 1/4 what it was.

Unless technology can raise that efficiency over long distances(atmosphere is like 64miles I think, which is another issue, orbital distance is like what 120 miles+?), I'm not sold on it.

Hmm, I wonder which generates the more clean energy per dollar honestly. The added costs to send panels into space or just making more solar panels. Guess it wouldn't be worked on if the people that believed in the tech didn't think so.
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Zomb
12/04/09

@Molbork: The tech your referring to is resonant induction and its not possible to transmit more than a few feet. I heard Sony recently produced a design with 92% efficiency and demonstrated it powering an LCD.

I honestly have no idea how they would transmit power from a solar panel in space. I don'y think the energy company in the article does either. They just told the company that wants to build one that if they build we'll buy from it. I guess this closer to funding research than it is actual power production.
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spafles
12/04/09

@Zomb: Supposedly, they would convert the electricity to RF signals in space and send those to a ground station that converts this back to electricity.

Efficiency issues aside, but somehow, building a very large microwave in space doesn't seem like a very good idea...
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Xodin
12/04/09

@spafles: Yes it will warm up the Earths core and it will cause the continent destabilization!
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spafles
12/04/09

@Xodin: They'd better get it up and running before 2012 though ^_^
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Panzer23
12/04/09

In reply to California Approves Orbiting Solar Panel Deal, Aims for 2016 Launch
And now I will build and Ice Palace and a ridiculous suit to control the sunlight!!!! HAHAHAHA *menacing laugh*

Sigh, what a horrible movie
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exoren22
12/04/09

In reply to California Approves Orbiting Solar Panel Deal, Aims for 2016 Launch
I remember is SimCity 2000 when the microwave power station would get misaligned and all the people living around it fried. I would love to see that in real life!
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PotteryBarnClearanceSale
12/04/09

In reply to California Approves Orbiting Solar Panel Deal, Aims for 2016 Launch
Couldn't they build a few nuclear plants for the same amount of money?

Space? That's really expensive right now.
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Jack of all Tirades R.O.A.C.H.
12/04/09

@PotteryBarnClearanceSale: They say the same thing about space as they do about real estate. It's what's for breakfast! No, wait.
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Shamoononon: I shave my legs. promoted this comment

Shamoononon: I shave my legs.
12/04/09

@PotteryBarnClearanceSale: I'm still mulling over where they are going to find the extension cable long enough to reach that thing.
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Azuaron
12/04/09

In reply to California Approves Orbiting Solar Panel Deal, Aims for 2016 Launch
According to Kurzweil (the futurist who's accurately predicted the growth of a number of information technologies), in 10 years ground based solar power will cover more than all of our energy needs. Space power in 2016 seems a little pointless...
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ebotee
12/04/09

In reply to California Approves Orbiting Solar Panel Deal, Aims for 2016 Launch
How will it hold up to all the space debris we made that is in orbit?
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Yerzriknot
12/04/09

@ebotee: The same way that satellites today do.
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ebotee
12/04/09

@Yerzriknot: I guess, but the surface area is a lot more to worry about.
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Nathan Obbards
12/04/09

In reply to California Approves Orbiting Solar Panel Deal, Aims for 2016 Launch
Year 2016: ''And in other news, Californians across the state are inexplicably suffering higher rates of cancer than any other state across the US."
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icelight
12/04/09

@Nathan Obbards: Of all the possible issues with space-based power (transmission efficiencies, cost-to-orbit, receiver location) you would have to pick two that aren't actually issues?
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Nathan Obbards promoted this comment icelight was starred icelight was unstarred

Nathan Obbards
12/04/09

@icelight: Same reason I keep my cellphone close to my nuts.
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Yerzriknot
12/04/09

@Nathan Obbards: Not the same kind of radiation. You CANNOT get cancer from microwave radiation.
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Duckspwn
12/04/09

@Nathan Obbards: Whoa whoa whoa, close to the little round pals? Can't you hear their tiny screams of radiation-induced pain?
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Nathan Obbards
12/04/09

@Yerzriknot: Aww, now you tell me. I was hoping to cheaply sterilize myself so I don't get any wild love children running around.
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Yerzriknot
12/04/09

@Nathan Obbards: Sorry, at best you'll have mutant love children.
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Nathan Obbards
12/04/09

@Yerzriknot: Hmm, that might actually be worth it then, especially if one has mutant superpowers. I need to get another cell phone.
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Shamoononon: I shave my legs.
12/04/09

@Yerzriknot: Dad?
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Yerzriknot
12/04/09

@Nathan Obbards: One for each nut?
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Nathan Obbards
12/04/09

@Yerzriknot: Exactly.
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Griffehpoo
11/08/09

In reply to The Cité du Design Certainly Lives Up to Its Name
...Gah, I'd hate to be the window washer for that joint. #design
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License_to_iLL
11/03/09

In reply to Cheap, Printed Solar-Powered LEDs Could Change 1.5 Billion Lives
I've been a reader of giz for a while now but this motivated me to sign up.
I think it's great that even though this isn't the most advanced technology (yet) people are still willing to get behind it. #printedsolarled
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Rosa Golijan promoted this comment License_to_iLL was starred License_to_iLL was unstarred

Rosa Golijan
11/03/09

@License_to_iLL: Welcome on board and happy commenting. #printedsolarled
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Gordonium
11/03/09

@License_to_iLL: Don't forget to tag your comments with #RosaRocks ;) #printedsolarled
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Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!
11/03/09

In reply to Cheap, Printed Solar-Powered LEDs Could Change 1.5 Billion Lives
I too, can get behind such an awesome idea of self-contained illumination for the reasons stated in this article, as well as the seemingly infinite constructive uses that can come from this.

Rosa, I have a question:

Do you know if this can be invested in, and if so, which company is behind this seemingly "cutting edge" idea? #printedsolarled
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Edited by Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!! at 11/03/09 8:58 PM

Rosa Golijan
11/03/09

@Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!: Based on what I'm reading, the research is being done through Denmark's Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy.

PS: Yikes, that's quite the username. #printedsolarled
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Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!!
11/03/09

@Rosa Golijan: Thanks for that tidbit of info : )

P.S Long story. Let's just say that I don't appreciate OP-EDs with no clear allowance of reasonable discussion (especially less respect when abitrary and capreciousness ensues afterwards.)

That said, I appreciate MOST of the Gawker writing and editorial staff. The username extension is nothing more than a retort in protest.

It's actually very rare of me, actually (as many Gawker readers can attest.) #printedsolarled
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Joseph Lau
11/03/09

In reply to Cheap, Printed Solar-Powered LEDs Could Change 1.5 Billion Lives
I have my reservations on technologies that can change lives in developing worlds. At the developing countries poor state in terms of just basic infrastructure (sanitation, water, etc.) how are they going to manage all the garbage they end up producing if the developed countries begin introducing these wonderful technologies to them? Will this, and a lot of other great ideas, be a 'too-fast-too-soon' phenomenon? #printedsolarled
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Gann
11/03/09

@Joseph Lau: 'too-fast-too-soon' is a valid concern, although less valid than it would have been a decade or two ago. 'too-little-too-late' sounds more like it. Surely though, something like this will do more good than harm? #printedsolarled
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Joseph Lau
11/18/09

@Gann: We have to look at the whole of the situation though. For example, some nations in Africa isn't too worried about electricity or lack thereof just because they really haven't developed the dependence of it as we developed nations have. They don't particularly need light at night because their working habits are that they just stop working when the sun goes down and wake up when the sun goes up. That same economy had been successful for thousands of years before even the candle was first used. I really don't think the whole of Africa would drastically increase in productivity overnight if this kind of technology were to be introduced to them.

I'm all for them learning to use new technologies, but at the right time. I would say help the developing nations sustain their basic infrastructures like water, sanitation and electricity supply first, then move on to roads and buildings, then we can talk more about new technologies and the conveniences that they provide. #printedsolarled
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Gann
11/18/09

@Joseph Lau: You make good points, but you are contradicting yourself a little. You say they don't need electricity, then go on to say we need to "help them sustain their basic infrastructures like water, sanitation and electricty supply first..." This innovation addresses that last point rather well.

Also, I would argue that production would, in fact, start increasing overnight.
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Joseph Lau
12/09/09

@Gann: I'm talking about those who already have electricity should work on their basic infrastructure. Rwanda is a good example where electricity exists and there is a dependence on it - however the infrastructure is not there to support it long-term. Rural China is also another good example. But those who don't live or depend on electricity shouldn't be introduced to electricity so quickly. If they actually have a need for electricity, sure, but further study of those populations would determine that.

Many tribes live without electricity for hundreds of years. What makes us - the so called 'developed' nations - think that electricity is better for them?

Perhaps I should have defined those difference better.
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Panzer23
11/03/09

In reply to Cheap, Printed Solar-Powered LEDs Could Change 1.5 Billion Lives
Nice post, if only there were more innovative people working on these types of things instead of military strength, then we might be getting somewhere. #printedsolarled
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tamoko
11/03/09

In reply to Cheap, Printed Solar-Powered LEDs Could Change 1.5 Billion Lives
Great post Rosa... this is the kind, like solar charging cell phones, and micro loans, that will really help make a difference in people's lives. #printedsolarled
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Rosa Golijan
11/03/09

@tamoko: Thanks. And I absolutely agree. This is my favorite sort of innovation to read about. #printedsolarled
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ekap
11/03/09

In reply to Cheap, Printed Solar-Powered LEDs Could Change 1.5 Billion Lives
They could start putting these on road signs, granted they're bright enough in mass, and save a lot with the lighting of them. #printedsolarled
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TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H.
11/04/09

@ekap: When I lived in Japan I noticed that a lot of the LED based traffic lights had solar panels on them. #printedsolarled
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