VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSIY

JNANASANGAMA, BELAGAVI-590018

A Technical Seminar Report On

SOLAR POWER SATELLITES
A Seminar report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the VIII
Semester degree of
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING IN ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS

Submitted by
MALLIKARJUNA CHIKKATTI

USN: 2BL21EE414

Under the Guidance of

Prof. H.A.Umachagi

Asst. Professor, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

V.P.Dr.P.G.Halakatti College of Engineering & Technology ,Vijayapur

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

B.L.D.E.A’sV.P.Dr.P.G.Halakatti College of Engineering and Technology,

Vijayapur-586103, Karnataka

Academic Year 2023-24

 B.L.D.E.A’s
V.P.Dr.P.G.Halakatti College of Engineering and Technology, Vijayapur-
586103, Karnataka
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE
Certified that the Seminar on topic SOLAR POWER SATELLITES has been
successfully presented at V.P. Dr.P.G.Halakatti College of Engineering and

Technology has completed the Seminar by MALLIKARJUNA CHIKKATTI bearing

2BL21EE414, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the VIII Semester degree of
Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics Engineering of Visvesvaraya
Technological University, Belagavi during academic year 2023-2024. It is certified that all
corrections/suggestions indicated for Internal Assessment have been incorporated in the report
deposited in the departmental library. The Seminar report has been approved as it satisfies the
academic requirements in respect of Seminar work for the said degree.

GUIDE H.O.D PRINCIPLE

Prof.H.A.umachagi Dr.A.S.Jadhav Dr.V.G.Sangam
 DECLARATION

I, MALLIKARJUNA CHIKKATTI. [USN:2BL21EE414], student of VIII Semester BE,

in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, V.P. Dr.P.G.Halakatti College of Engineering and
Technology hereby declare that the Seminar entitled “Title of seminar” has been carried out by me and
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the VIII Semester degree of Bachelor of
Electrical and Electronics Engineering of Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi during
academic year 2023-2024.

Date : Name : MALLIKARJUNA CHIKKATTI

Place : Vijayapur USN :2BL21EE414

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am highly indebted to Prof. H.A.Umachagi for their guidance and constant supervision as well
as for providing necessary information regarding the project and also for their support in
completing the technical seminar report . I would like to appreciate the guidance given by the
other supervisor as well as panel especially in our technical seminar presentation as improved our
presentation skills by their comment and tips I would like to express gratitude towards my parents
and beloved principal Dr.V.G.Sangam V.P. Dr.P.G.Halakatti College of Engineering and
Technology forproviding me an opportunity to take up this seminar. I am thank full to our head
of department Prof. A.S.Jadhav for helping throughout the project

Name of the Student: MALLIKARJUNA CHIKKATTI

S. No DESCRIPTION P.NO

Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: Why solar power satellite 2
Chapter 3: Background of SPS 3
Chapter 4: Methodology 4
Chapter 5: Solar power satellite (SPS) system 5
5.1 Solar Energy Conversion – Solar
Photons to DC
5
5.2 Converting DC to Microwave
Power 6
5.3 Transmitting Antennae 8
Chapter 6: Transmission 9-10
Chapter 7: Challenges 11
7.1 Progress Status
Chapter 8: Advantages 12
Conclusion 13
References 14
 Solar Power Satellites 2024

CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

Space-based solar power (SBSP) is the concept of collecting solar power in space
(using an "SPS", that is, a "solar-power satellite") for use on Earth. It has been in
research since the early 1970s.

SBSP would differ from current solar collection methods in that the means
Used to collect energy would reside on an orbiting satellite instead of on Earth’s
surface. Some projected benefits of such a system are a higher collection rate and a
longer collection period. Part of the solar energy (55-60%) is lost on its way
through the atmosphere by the effects of reflection and absorption.

Space-based solar power systems convert sunlight to microwaves outside the

atmosphere, avoiding these lossesS and the downtime due to the Earth's rotation.

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CHAPTER-2

WHY SOLAR POWER SATELLITE

Increasing global energy demand is likely to continue for many decades.

Renewable energy is a compelling approach – both philosophically and in
engineering terms. However, many renewable energy sources are limited in their
ability to affordably provide the base load power required for global industrial
development and prosperity, because of inherent land and water requirements. The
burning of fossil fuels resulted in an abrupt decrease in their .it also led to the green
house effect and many other environmental problems. Earth based solar panels
receives only a part of the solar energy. It will be affected by the day & night effect
and other factors such as clouds. So it is desirable to place the solar panel in the
space itself, where, the solar energy is collected and converted in to electricity which
is then converted to a highly directed microwave beam for transmission. This
microwave beam, which can be directed to any desired location on Earth surface,
can be collected and then converted back to electricity. This concept is more
advantageous than conventional methods. Also the microwave energy, chosen for
transmission, can pass unimpeded through clouds and precipitations.

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CHAPTER-3

BACKGROUND OF SPS

The concept of a large SPS that would be placed in geostationary orbit

was invented by Peter Glaser in 1968 [1].The SPS concept was examined
extensively during the late 1970s by the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) and the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The DOE-NASA put
forward the SPS Reference System Concept in 1979 [2]. The central feature of this
concept was the creation of a large scale power infrastructure in space, consisting of
about 60 SPS, delivering a total of about 300GW.But, as a result of the huge price
tag, lack of evolutionary concept and the subsiding energy crisis in 1980-1981, all
U.S SPS efforts were terminated with a view to re-asses the concept after about ten
years. During this time international interest in SPS emerged which led to WPT
experiments in Japan.

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CHAPTER-4

METHODOLOGY

Researchers are aspiring to design and develop a Space-based solar farm that
would generate 1GW of power and allow it to transfer back to the earth through
microwaves or lasers. This will require an area of 4 sq. kilometer consisting of rows
of solar panels.

This space solar farm will be housed 36,000 km above the earth surface. SPS designs
generally include the use of some manner of wireless power transmission. The
collecting satellite would convert solar energy into electrical energy, powering a
microwave transmitter or laser emitter, and focus its beam toward a collector
(rectenna) on Earth's surface.

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CHAPTER-5

SOLAR POWER SATELLITE (SPS) SYSTEM

Solar Energy Conversion – Solar Photons to DC

Two basic methods of converting sunlight to electricity have been studied:

photovoltaic (PV) conversion, and solar dynamic (SD) conversion. Most analyses of
solar power satellites have focused on photovoltaic conversion (commonly known
as “solar cells”). Photovoltaic conversion uses semiconductor cells (e.g., silicon or
gallium arsenide) to directly convert photons into electrical power via a quantum
mechanical mechanism.
Photovoltaic cells are not perfect in practice, as material purity and processing issues
during production affect performance; each has been progressively improved for
some decades. Some new, thin-film approaches are less efficient (about 20% vs.
35% for best in class in each case), but are much less expensive and generally lighter.
In an SPS implementation, photovoltaic cells will likely be rather different from the
glass-pane protected solar cell panels familiar to many from current terrestrial use,
since they will be optimized for weight, and will be designed to be tolerant to the
space radiation environment (it turns out fortuitously, that thin film silicon solar
panels are highly insensitive to ionizing radiation), but will not need to be
encapsulated against corrosion by the elements. They do not require the structural
support required for terrestrial use, where the considerable gravity and wind loading
imposes structural requirements on terrestrial implementations.

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Converting DC to Microwave Power

To convert the DC power to microwave for the transmission through antenna

towards the earth’s receiving antenna, microwave oscillators like Klystrons,
Magnetrons can be used. In transmission, an alternating current is created in the
elements by applying a voltage at the antenna terminals, causing the elements to
radiate an electromagnetic field.
The DC power must be converted to microwave power at the transmitting end of the
system by using microwave oven magnetron. The heat of microwave oven is the
high voltage system. The nucleus of high voltage system is the magnetron tube. The
magnetron is diode type electron tube, which uses the interaction of magnetic and
electric field in the complex cavity to produce oscillation of very high peak power.
It employs radial electric field, axial magnetic field, anode structure and a cylindrical
cathode.
The cylindrical cathode is surrounded by an anode with cavities and thus a radial
electric field will exist. The magnetic field due to two permanent magnets which are
added above end below the tube structure is axial. The upper magnet is North Pole

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and lower magnet is South Pole. The electron moving through the space tends to
build up a magnetic field around itself. The magnetic field on right side is weakened
because the self-induced magnetic field has the effect of subtracting from the
permanent magnetic field. So the electron trajectory bends in that direction resulting
in a circular motion of travel to anode. This process begins with a low voltage being
applied to the cathode, which causes it to heat up. The temperature rise causes the
emission of more electrons. This cloud of electrons would be repelled away from the
negatively charged cathode. The distance and velocity of their travel would increase
with the intensity of applied voltage. Momentum is provided by negative 4000 V
DC. This is produced by means of voltage doubler circuit. The electrons blast off
from cathode like tiny rocket. As the electrons move towards their objective, they
encounter the powerful magnetic. The effect of permanent magnet tends to deflect
the electrons away from the anode. Due to the combined affect of electric and
magnetic field on the electron trajectory they revive to a path at almost right angle
to their previous direction resulting in an expanding circular orbit around the
cathode, which eventually reaches the anode. The whirling cloud of electrons forms
a rotating pattern. Due to the interaction of this rotating space chare wheel with the
configuration of the surface of anode, an alternating current of very high frequency
is produced in the resonant cavities of the anode. The output is taken from one of
these cavities through waveguide. The low cost and readily available magnetron is
used in ground.
The same principle would be used but a special magnetron would be developed for
space use. Because of the pulsed operation of these magnetrons they generate
much spurious noise. A solar power satellite operating with 10 GW of radiated
power would radiate a total power of one microwatt in a 400 Hz channel width.

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Transmitting Antennae
Power transmission via radio waves can be made more directional, allowing
longer distance power beaming, with shorter wavelengths of electromagnetic
radiation, typically in the microwave range. Power beaming using microwaves has
been proposed for the transmission of energy from orbiting solar power satellites to
Earth and the beaming of power to spacecraft leaving orbit has been considered.
The size of the components may be dictated by the distance from transmitter to
receiver, the wavelength and the Rayleigh criterion or diffraction limit, used in
standard radio frequency antenna design, which also applies to lasers. In addition to
the Rayleigh criterion Airy's diffraction limit is also frequently used to determine an
approximate spot size at an arbitrary distance from the aperture.
The Rayleigh criterion dictates that any radio wave, microwave or laser beam will
spread and become weaker and diffuse over distance; the larger the transmitter
antenna or laser aperture compared to the wavelength of radiation, the tighter the
beam and the less it will spread as a function of distance (and vice versa). Smaller
antennae also suffer from excessive losses due to side lobes. However, the concept
of laser aperture considerably differs from an antenna. Typically, a laser aperture
much larger than the wavelength induces multi-mode radiation and mostly
collimators are used before emitted radiation couples into a fiber or into space.

Ultimately, beam width is physically determined by diffraction due to the dish size
in relation to the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation used to make the beam.
Microwave power beaming can be more efficient than lasers, and is less prone to
atmospheric attenuation caused by dust or water vapor losing atmosphere to vaporize
the water in contact.

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Then the power levels are calculated by combining the above parameters together,
and adding in the gains and losses due to the antenna characteristics and the
transparency of the medium through which the radiation passes. That process is
known as calculating a link budget. However, the above mathematics does not
account for atmospheric absorption which can be a severe damping effect on
propagating energy in addition to causing severe fading and loss of Quos

CHAPTER-6

TRANSMISSION

As the electro-magnetic induction and electro-magnetic radiation has disadvantages

we are going for implementation of electrical conduction and resonant frequency
methods. Of this, the resonant induction method is the most implement able due to
the reasons given later. In the distant future this method could allow for elimination
of many existing high tension power transmission lines and facilitate the inter
connection of electric generation plants in a global scale.
The microwave source consists of microwave oven magnetron with electronics to
control the output power. The output microwave power ranges from 50w to 200w at
2.45GHz. A coaxial cable connects the output of the microwave source to a coax-to-
wave adaptor. This adapter is connected to a tuning waveguide ferrite circulator is
connected to a tuning waveguide section to match the wave guide impedance to the
antenna input impedance.
The slotted wave guide antenna consists of 8 waveguide sections with 8 slots on
each section. These 64 slots radiate the power uniformly through free space to the
rectifying antenna (rectenna). The slotted waveguide antenna is ideal for power
transmission because of its high aperture efficiency (>95%) and high power handling

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capability. Microwaves are situated on the electromagnetic spectrum with

frequencies ranging from 0.3 to 300 GHz.
The energy transmitted by a microwave is very diffusive in nature, such that the
receiving antenna area must be very large when compared to the transmitter.
Although the use of microwaves to transmit energy from space down to earth is
attractive, most part of the microwaves receives significant interference due to
atmosphere. Still there are certain frequency windows in which these interactions are
minimized.

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CHAPTER-7

CHALLENGE

The large cost of launching a satellite into space .The energy required for producing
and putting solar panels into space versus the amount of energy generate. One of the
solutions can be that we can utilize the concept of space elevators.
Space solar power development costs will be very large but its cost always needs to
be compared to the cost of not developing space solar power.

Progress Status

There are many technological challenges to solve before SBSP can be implemented.
However, in principle, researchers are getting close to the stage where it is feasible,
and they have just moved from the study phase to the technology demonstration
phase. Researchers have started preparation for the world’s first demonstration of 1
kW-class wireless power transmission technology, and are aiming for practical use
in the 2030.

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CHAPTER-8

ADVANTAGES

The SPS concept is attractive because space has several major advantages over the
Earth's surface for the collection of solar power.

❖ There is no air in space, so collecting surfaces could receive much more

intense sunlight.
❖ Space solar power can be exported to virtually any place in the world, and its
energy can be converted for local needs.
❖ Collecting surfaces could receive much more intense sunlight, owing to the
lack of obstructions such as atmospheric gasses, clouds, dust and other
weather event.
❖ A collecting satellite could possibly direct power on demand to different
surface locations based on geographical base load or peak load power needs.
Typical contracts would be for base load, continuous power, since peaking
power is ephemeral

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CONCLUSION

The increasing global energy demand is likely to continue for many decades. New
power plants of all sizes will be built. Fossils fuels will run off in another 3-4
decades. However energy independence is something only Space based solar power
can deliver. Space based solar power (SBSP) concept is attractive because it is much
more advantageous than ground based solar power. It has been predicted that by
2030, the world needs 30TW power from renewable energy sources and solar energy
alone has the capability of producing around 600TW. The levels of CO2 gas
emission can be minimized and brought under control. Thus the problem of global
warming will be solved to a great extent. Based on current research space based solar
power should no longer be envisioned as requiring unimaginably large initial
investments. Moreover, space solar power systems appear to possess many
significant environmental advantages when compared to alternative approaches to
meeting increasing terrestrial demands for energy including necessity of
considerably less land area than terrestrial based solar power system.

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References

Peter Glaser proposed the concept of a Solar Power Satellite at the Inter-society Energy
Conversion Conference in 1968. The essence of this appears in a paper published in Science: P E

Glaser, Power from the Sun: Its Future, Science, 162, 957-961 (1968). This then appears to be the
seminal paper for the field.

Following the above initial paper, NASA in conjunction with the US DoE (Department of
Energy) undertook an intensive study of the idea. The results appeared in a 1981 study: US Office
of Technology Assessment, Solar Power Satellites, 1981 (US Gov Printing Office).

This assessment basically decided that the concept was not economically feasible at the time.
The Japanese however, showed great interest in the concept following this report, and many of the
publications from this time onward are of Japanese origin. The Europeans started to show an
interest much later. The US revisted the issue with two studies around the turn of the millenium.

The first of these was: NASA, Space Solar Power: A Fresh Look at the Feasibility of Generating
Solar Power in Space for Use on Earth, Report Number SAIC-97/1005, Contract NAS3-26565,
Task Order 9, April 4, 1997.

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