Novel Called "POWERSAT" Author Ben Bova. Simply bad Sci-Fi?

Question

My wife was reading this novel called POWERSAT (1) the other day, It is about a geosynchronous satellite which collects solar electric power, converts to RF using magnetrons and focuses to earth where the RF is converted back to DC power through "rectantennas". If this sounds familiar it is, because the concept was described years ago, in magazines like Popular Science etc . In fact there is today, a website for such a company called POWERSAT and the technology apparently lives on.

Apart from the premise of the novel which is pretty hokey (focusing the beam with a *_smaller_* antenna and zapping Washington DC!) and a very poor read (I skimmed it for the good stuff, found little), has anyone considered the theoretical efficiency of such a system?

The free space loss from geosynchonous orbit at 2.4 GHz? (191 dB)
The required dish size for unity path loss? Two parabolic dishes of ~2 miles diameter! (101 dB gain each!) The author does not describe the antenna system adequately but defines a wide arrray of rectantennas deployed at White Sands Missile Base.
The efficiency of the respective transmit and receive antenna systems? A parabolic antenna if I recall correctly is only about 55% efficient at the feedpoint. The rectantennas would be another issue with respect to RF to DC conversion and I2R losses.
Pointing accuracy required?
Solar cell efficiency?
Magnetron efficiency?
Redundancy/module uptime availability? Assume at best 95% of magnetron and solar modules are serviceable.

My point is that simply constructing a solar array on earth has got to be far more efficient than launching one into space? Am I correct? Or can they make "applesauce from rain (2)"?

(1) Author Ben Bova (2) A tiring, repetetive, corny quote from this book!

Roy Q.T. · Accepted Answer

I'd rather read Fantasy like " Excess of Enchantments " with neatherlandcreatures, brownies & sprites :-) if one just wants to fuel onesimagination: at least you know the stuff is pure magic and nonsense tobegin with., I have never opened an Isaac Azimov twice either. =AEoy

ehsjr · Answer

The system would work exceptionally well, with the proper application of snake oil and liberal sprinkling of flux capacitors.

Maintenance would be a bitch, however. The initial treatment of the various conductors with Wire Clean (tm) would need to be renewed quarterly to ensure signal purity, necessitating a shuttle launch every three months.

Nevertheless, rumor has it that NonStarter Technology Incorporated intends to sell shares in this in the not too distant future.

DaveC · Answer

On Tue, 31 May 2005 18:03:35 -0700, ehsjr wrote (in article ):

But 2.4 MHz?? Wouldn't the energy outside the "corrodor" from the sat to the ground users fry all WLAN equipment? Wireless phones at that wavelength?

operator jay · Answer

Are you sure about that?  I've seen some pretty convincing scientificevidence around here for other, better methods of downloading power from theionosphere, and electrical energy repositories.

Michael A. Terrell · Answer

You mean 2.4 GHz. The original idea was to beam the RF into a desert area, recover it and use inverters to convert it to AC, then feed it to the power grid. When the idea was hatched there were no cordless phones or personal computers. On the other hand, if the bad guys get control of the satellite, they can redirect the RF energy and use it as a very effective weapon, at least in the original Sci-Fi story.

ehsjr · Answer

That's the beauty of snake oil. :-) It lubricates the signal such that it is harmless to any device, regardless of frequency. The special receiving stations strip off the snake oil in order to process the signal. Voila!

And don't forget the part of my post you snipped that deals with Wire Clean (tm). It is necessary to retain signal purity. An impure signal might be outside the capabilities of the snake oil, and cvause the kind of problem you describe. Not a pretty picture!

:-)

Roy Q.T. · Answer

Okay I'll pick up a few sci fi's along the way then };-) but myrecommendation is really wild & good for the little ones too:)=AEoy

Novel Called "POWERSAT" Author Ben Bova. Simply bad Sci-Fi?

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