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First space-to-earth solar power station targeted for Oct. 2010
Sir Charles Shults of Xenotech Research describes their current
projects, including assisting deployment of an orbital solar power station; ramping up for manufacturing of an affordable, modular 500W Solar Pod for purchase within six
months; and designing a residential wind turbine expected to be 1/3 the cost of others.
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Terminal Hanger Concept, Spaceport America, in New Mexico. Sir
Shults attended the groundbreaking ceremony on June 19, 2009. |
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Image of an orbiting solar power station - the array will collect sunlight, convert it to electrical power, and beam the energy to receivers on the ground.
Potentially, subscribers can be all over the world, and power can be sent to locations where power wires cannot easily be run for economic or environmental reasons.
Image source: © Space Island Group |
Xenotech says their new modular Energy Pods
will be available for home or business needs by around Dec. 2009. The
small opening is for the focal point from a Fresnel lens.
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by Sterling
D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News
Copyright © 2009
Last Monday, I interviewed
Sir Charles Shults III of Xenotech Research which has several projects under way:
1) moving near the New Mexico space port to expedite development of an orbital solar power project for deployment in Oct. 2010;
2) ramping up for manufacturing of an affordable, modular 500W Solar Pod for purchase within six months; 3) designing a residential wind turbine expected to be 1/3 the cost of others.
Space-Based Solar
Because of his work with what apparently will be the first functioning
space-based solar array for transmitting power to earth, Sir Charles was invited
to be part of the recent groundbreaking for Spaceport
America on June 19 in New Mexico, near Truth or Consequences -- yes, that's
the name of a town. Shults is relocating Xenotech Research there so
they'll be conveniently located for their work in conjunction with the
deployment of what apparently will be the world's first space-based solar
collector and transmission project, to be carried out by the Space
Island Group. Space Island Group (SIG) is the leader in the
commercialization of space and plans to design, build and operate commercial
space transportation systems and destinations that are dedicated to commerce,
research, space solar power, satellite repair, manufacturing and tourism. (Ref.)
The solar collector components will be piggy-backed to space along with the
space tourism that will be carried out. Sir Charles told me he has recently been negotiating with Gene Meyers and Terry Martin of
SIG. They are looking to him to supply some technologies for their orbital solar power
project, having received permission to orbit a solar power satellite demonstrator and will soon be building receiving stations on the ground for the proof of principle.
Sir Charles' involvement includes advising on methods for moving craft from
lower to higher orbits using less rocket fuel; energy generation technology; and
technology for power-receiving antennas on the ground.
They plan for the first proof of concept solar station to be deployed in a low
earth orbit of 300 miles in October of 2010, generating around 12-13
kilowatts. The power will be transmitted via precisely-tuned microwave
frequencies, and will require "no fly zones" above the receiver area
on earth.
By 2012, they intend to deploy a 1 gigawatt (akin to a nuclear power plant
output) geosynchronous
space solar station up around 22,300 miles, which will be constantly available
on earth except during lunar eclipses of the solar station. The intensity
of solar energy in space above the Earth's atmosphere is 1360 watts per square
meter, compared to a maximum of 960 Watts/m2, depending on angle
through the earth's atmosphere. (Ref.)
Taking into consideration the day-night cycles and cloud cover, an earth-based
solar system, even in an ideal location, will only generate about 20% as much
power as what the same sized space-based array could generate.
At first, the receiving stations will be fixed-location utilities, but Sir
Charles said that in the future, it's conceivable that one could have a mobile
device with a subscription to receive power, very similar to a cell phone
account. For this reason, the military has been especially interested in
the technology, as it would resolve fuel supply-line issues.
The transmission of power apparently can be done very efficiently as well.
Sir Charles said that according to new work being done by Mitsubishi in Japan
for cell phone power, wireless point-to-point transmission on earth presently
exceeds the efficiency of copper wire-based transmission.
The space solar initiative has been in development since 1970, when the original
proposal was made.
The space tourism initiative has been given momentum recently by Burt Rutan who
made the first successful non-government-sponsored space flight (actually
three). His technology was purchased by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin
Galactic, who then hired Burt to design a larger transport system which will
be the basis of the first commercial space flights. (Ref.)
Solar Pod
Another project Xenotech is working on is to built a manufacturing plant for
their 500-Watt solar pod system, which they hope to have available within six
months. The modular pod system involves a sun-tracking Fresnel lens
focusing the sun's energy on a 10-inch diameter cylindrical pod 10 inches deep
that converts the solar heat into electricity using a proprietary fluid.
It is a variation of a 6 KW Fresnel solar technology Sir Charles was working on
last year, but different enough to not create IP problems with the others that
were involved in that project.
Sir Charles expects that the installed cost will be around $2 / Watt at first,
but once they get some volume going, they hope to get it down to the coveted $1
/ Watt price range, which will mean around a 3-5 year return on investment.
Wind Turbine
Sir Charles said he and his group have spent the past four months immersed in
research on small-scale wind turbine technology for residential
applications. The resulting novel design they came up with is a variation
of a vertical axis turbine. They call it an "air diode", as it
allows the wind to flow in only one direction. Initial reviews of their
technology have been encouraging. They expect that the cost of the turbine
will be one third of presently-available residential wind turbines.
About Xenotech Research and Sir Charles Shults III
Xenotech Research was founded in around 1992, starting in robotics and AIVs
(artificial intelligence vehicles). More recently they have gravitated
toward focusing on sun and wind power as well as water recycling technologies.
Sir Charles Shults III worked at Martin Marietta Aerospace for 10 years on
weapons systems and computer based automated test equipment. He wrote the
nuclear EMP test software for the Pershing II missile system, worked on the
Patriot, the Copperhead tank killer, and advanced attack helicopter systems. He
has performed research under grant on nuclear fusion, was knighted and received
a long term grant for his present research in robotics and artificial
intelligence. He has written many technical publications and magazine articles
on space, astronomy, the atmosphere, and space resource development. (Ref.)
# # #
Links Mentioned
Shults Interview Audio
Feedback
- Feel free to view or add your own comments to the publication of this
article at Examiner.com
See also
PESWiki.com pages:
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Page composed by Sterling
D. Allan July 4, 2009
Last updated August 04, 2009
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