Introduction:

A solar power satellite, or SPS or Power-sat, as originally proposed would be a satellite built in high Earth orbit that uses microwave power transmission to beam solar power to a very large antenna on Earth. Advantages of placing the solar collectors in space include the unobstructed view of the Sun, unaffected by the day/night cycle, weather, or seasons. It is a renewable energy source, zero emission, and generates no waste. However, the costs of construction are very high, and SPS will not be able to compete with conventional sources (at current energy prices) unless at least one of the following conditions is met.The search for a new, safe and stable renewable energy source led to the idea of building a power station in space which transmits electricity to Earth . The concept of Solar Power Satellites (SPS) was invented by Glaser in 1968.Research is still going on in this field and NASA is planning to implement one by 2040. SPS converts solar energy into microwaves and transmit it to a receiving antenna on Earth for conversion to electric power. The key technology needed to enable the future feasibility of SPS is Microwave Power Transmission. SPS would be a massive structure with an area of about 56 sq-m and would, weigh about 30,000 to 50,000 metric ton. Estimated cost is about $74 billion and would take about 30 years for its construction. In order to reduce the projected cost of a SPS suggestions are made to employ extra-terrestrial resources for its construction. This reduces the transportation requirements of such a massive structure. However the realization of SPS concept holds great promises for solving energy crisis.

Why SPS:
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. Nuclear power seems to be an answer for global warming, but concerns about terrorist attacks on Earth bound nuclear power plants have intensified environmentalist opposition to nuclear power. Moreover, switching on to the natural fission reactor, the sun, yields energy with no waste products. 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.

Solar Power Satellite & Microwave Power Transmission

REQUIREMENT OF SPACE SOLAR POWER:

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 greenhouse effect and many other environmental problems. Nuclear power seems to be an answer for global warming, but concerns about terrorist attacks on Earth bound nuclear power plants have intensified environmentalist opposition to nuclear power. Moreover, switching on to the natural fission reactor, the sun, yields energy with no waste products. 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. The technologies and infrastructure required to make space solar power feasible include:

Low-cost, environmentally-friendly launch vehicles. Current launch vehicles are too expensive, and at high launch rates may pose atmospheric pollution problems of their own. Cheaper, cleaner launch vehicles are needed. Large scale in-orbit construction and operations. To gather massive quantities of energy, solar power satellites must be large, far larger than the International Space Station (ISS), the largest spacecraft built to date. Fortunately, solar power satellites will be simpler than the ISS as they will consist of many identical parts. Power transmission. A relatively small effort is also necessary to assess how to best transmit power from satellites to the Earths surface with minimal environmental impact.

In the longer term, with sufficient investments in space infrastructure, space solar power can be built from materials from space. The full environmental benefits of space solar power derive from doing most of the work outside of Earth's biosphere. With materials extraction from the Moon or near-Earth asteroids, and space-based manufacturer of components, space solar power would have essentially zero terrestrial environmental impact. Only the energy receivers need be built on Earth.Space solar power can completely solve our energy problems long term. The sooner we start and the harder we work, the shorter "long term" will be.

Solar Power Satellite & Microwave Power Transmission

SATELLITE LAUNCHING:
Due to the balance of two effects:
velocity, or the speed at which it would travel in a straight line, the gravitational pull between the Earth and the satellite.

To illustrate this principle, attach a small weight or a ball to a string, and swing it around in a circle. If the string were to break, the ball would fly off in a straight line. But because it is tethered (like gravity tethers a satellite), it orbits your hand.

Fig 5: satellite launching and orbital diagram .Imagine that you could climb an imaginary mountain whose summit pokes above the Earth's atmosphere (it would be about ten times higher than Mt. Everest). If you threw a baseball from the mountain top, it would fall to the ground in a curving path. Two motions act upon it: travelling in a straight line and falling toward Earth. The faster you throw theball, the farther it will go before it hits the ground. If you could throw the ball at a speed of 17,000 mph, the ball wouldn't reach the ground. It would circle the Earth in a curved path; it would be in orbit. (It would be traveling at 5 miles per second and take about 10 minutes to cross the United States.) This is the speed needed to put satellites into orbit, which is why the Space Shuttle and other satellites require such powerful boosters. All satellites today get into orbit by riding on a rocket. Many used to hitch a ride in the cargo bay of the space shuttle. Several countries and businesses have rocket launch capabilities, and satellites as large as several tons make it safely into orbit regularly. For most satellite launches, the scheduled launch rocket is aimed straight up at first. This gets the rocket through the thickest part of the atmosphere most quickly and best minimizes fuel consumption.

Solar Power Satellite & Microwave Power Transmission

SPS THE BACKGROUND:

The concept of a large SPS that would be placed in geostationary orbit was invented by Peter Glaser in 1968.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. 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.

RECENT NASA EFFORTS:

Fresh look Study:
During 1995-96, NASA conducted a re-examination of the technologies, system concepts of SPS systems .The principal objective of this Fresh Look Study was to determine whether a SPS and associated systems could be defined. The Fresh Look Study concluded that the prospects for power from space were more technically viable than they had been earlier.

SSP Concept Definition Study:

During 1998, NASA conducted the SSP Concept Definition Study which was a focused one year effort that tested the results of the previous Fresh Look Study. A principal product of the efforts was the definition of a family of strategic R&T road maps for the possible development of SSP technologies.

SSP Exploratory and Research Technology Program:

In 2000, NASA conducted the SERT Program which further defined new system concepts. The SERT Program comprised of three complementary elements: System studies and analysis: Analysis of SSP systems and architecture concepts to address the economic viability as well as environmental issue assessments. SSP Research and technology: Focused on the exploratory research to identify system concepts and establish technical viability. SPS technology demonstration: Initial small scale demonstration of key SSP concepts and / or components using related system / technologies.

Solar Power Satellite & Microwave Power Transmission

SPS-A GENERAL IDEA:

Solar Power Satellites would be located in the geosynchronous orbit. The difference between existing satellites and SPS is that an SPS would generate more powermuch more power than it requires for its own operation.The solar energy collected by an SPS would be converted into electricity, then into microwaves. The microwaves would be beamed to the Earth surface, where they would be received and converted back into electricity by a large array of devices known as rectifying antenna or rectenna.(Rectification is the process by which alternating electrical current ,such as that induced by a microwave beam , is converted to direct current). This direct current can then be converted to 50 or 60 Hz alternating current. Each SPS would have been massive; measuring 10.5 km long and 5.3 km wide or with an average area of 56 sq.km.The surface of each satellite would have been covered with 400 million solar cells. The transmitting antenna on the satellite would have been about 1 km in diameter and the receiving antenna on the Earth surface would have been about 10 km in diameter. The SPS would weigh more than 50,000 tons. The smaller the transmitter array, the larger the angle of divergence of the transmitted beam. A highly divergent beam will spread out over a large area, and may be too weak to activate the rectenna.In order to obtain a sufficiently concentrated beam; a great deal of power must be collected and fed into a large transmitter array.

Configuration of SPS is space.

Solar Power Satellite & Microwave Power Transmission

The day-night cycle ,cloud coverage , atmospheric attenuationetc . Reduces the amount of solar energy received on Earths surface. PS being placed in the space overcomes this. Another important feature of the SPS is its Continuous operation i.e,24 hours a day,365 days a year basis. Only for matotal of 22 in a year would the SPS would be eclipsed for a period of time to a maximum of 72 min.If the SPS and the ground antenna are located at the same longitude, the eclipse period will centre around midnight .The power would be beamed to the Earth in the form of microwaves at a frequency of 2.45 GHz. Microwaves can pass unimpeded through clouds and rain .Microwaves have other features such as larger band width , smaller antenna size, sharp radiated beams and they propagate along straight lines. Because of competing factors such as increasing atmospheric attenuation but reducing size for the transmitting antenna and the other components at higher frequency , microwave frequency in the range of 2-3 GHz are considered optimal for the transmission of power from SPS to the ground rectenna site.A microwave frequency of 2.45 GHz is considered particularly desirable because of its present uses for ISM band and consequently probable lack of interference with current radar and communication systems. The rectenna arrays would be designed to let light through, so that crops or even solar panels could be placed underneath it. Here microwaves are practically nil. The amount of power available to the consumers from one SPS is 5GW.the peak intensity of microwave beam would be 23 mW/cm.So far, no non thermal health effects of low level microwave exposure have been proved, although the issue remains controversial.

Effects of an SPS:
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 the collecting surfaces would receive much more intense sunlight, unaffected by weather. In geostationary orbit, an SPS would be illuminated over 99% of the time. The SPS would be in Earth's shadow on only a few days at the spring and fall equinoxes; and even then for a maximum of 75 minutes late at night when power demands are at their lowest. This allows the power generation system to avoid the expensive storage facilities (eg, lakes behind dams, oil storage tanks, etc) necessary in many Earth-based power generation systems. Additionally, an SPS will avoid entirely the polluting consequences of fossil fuel systems, the ecological problems resulting from many renewable or low impact power generation systems (eg, dams). More long-term, the potential amount of power production is enormous. If power stations can be placed outside Earth orbit, the upper limit is vastly higher still. In the extreme, such arrangements are called Dyson spheres. SPS has all the advantage of ground solar, plus an additional advantage; it generates power during cloudy weather and at night. In other words SPS receiver operates just like a solar array. Like a solar array, it receives power from space and converts it into electricity.

Solar Power Satellite & Microwave Power Transmission

If the satellite position is selected such that the Earth and the Sun are in the same location in the sky, when viewed from the satellite, same dish could be used both as solar power collector and the microwave antenna. This reduces the size and complexity of satellite. However, the main barrier to the development of SPS is social, not technological. The initial development cost for SPS is enormous and the construction time required is very long. A possible risk for such a large project is very large, pay-off is uncertain. Lower cost technology may be developed during the time required to construct the system. So such a large program requires a step by step path with immediate pay-off at each step and the experience gained at each step refine and improve the risk in evolutionary steps.

Low launch costs can be achieved:

A space-based manufacturing industry develops that is capable of building solar power satellites in orbit, using off-Earth materials. In common with other types of renewable energy such a system could have advantages to the world in terms of energy security via reduction in levels of conflict, military spending, loss of life, and avoiding future conflict over dwindling energy sources. An artist's concept of a solar power satellite, 1976. (NASA) .The SPS concept was first described in November 1968. At first it was regarded as impractical due to the lack of a workable method of sending power collected down to the Earth's surface. This changed in 1973 when Peter Glaser was granted U.S. patent number 3,781,647 for his method of transmitting power over long distances (e.g., from an SPS to the Earth's surface) using microwaves from a, perhaps square kilometre, antenna on the satellite to a much larger one on the ground, which came to be known as a rectenna. Glaser then worked at Arthur D. Little, Inc., as a vice-president. NASA became interested and signed a contract with ADL to lead four other companies in a broader study in 1974. They found that, while the concept had several major problems -- chiefly the expense of putting the required materials in orbit and the lack of experience on projects of this scale in space, it showed enough promise to merit further investigation and research.

Description:
The SPS essentially consists of three parts: A solar collector typically made up of solar cells. A microwave antenna on the satellite, aimed at Earth. One or more paired, and much larger, antennas (rectennas) on the Earth's surface.

Solar Power Satellite & Microwave Power Transmission

Spacecraft design:
In many ways, the SPS is a simpler conceptual design than most power generation systems previously proposed. The simple aspects include the physical structure required to hold the SPS together and to align it orthogonally to the Sun. This will be considerably lighter than any similar structure on Earth since it will be in a zero-g, vacuum environment and will not need to support itself against a gravity field and needs no protection from terrestrial wind or weather. Solar photons will be converted to electricity aboard the SPS spacecraft, and that electricity will be fed to an array of Klystron tubes which will generate the microwave beam.

Solar Power Satellite & Microwave Power Transmission

Solar energy conversion (solar photons to DC current):

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaic convert light into electric current using the photoelectric effect.Space-based solar power is a method of collecting solar energy so that it can be distributed for use all over the earth. With this amazing technology, space-based solar power is the future of power generation Two basic methods of converting photons to electricity have been studied, Solar dynamic (SD) and Photovoltaic (PV).

Solar Dynamic (SD): Solar Dynamic uses a heat engine to drive a piston or a turbine which connects to a generator or dynamo. Two heat cycles for solar dynamic are thought to be reasonable for this: the Brayton cycle or the Stirling cycle. Terrestrial solar dynamic systems typically use a large reflector to focus sunlight to a high concentration to achieve a high temperature so the heat engine can operate at high thermodynamic efficiencies; an SPS implementation is expected to be similar. Photovoltaic (PV): Photovoltaic (PV) uses semiconductor cells (e.g., silicon or gallium arsenide) to directly convert sunlight photons into voltage via a quantum mechanical mechanism. These are commonly known as solar cells, and will likely be rather different from the glass panel protected solar cell panels familiar to many and in current terrestrial use. They will, for reasons of weight, probably be built in membrane form, not suitable to terrestrial use which is subject to considerable gravitational loading. A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell (PV), is a device that converts light into electric current using the photoelectric effect. The first solar cell was constructed by Charles Fritts in the 1880s. In 1931 a German engineer, Dr Bruno Lange, developed a photo cell using silver selenide in place of copper oxide.Although the prototype selenium cells converted less than 1% of incident light into electricity, both Ernst Werner von Siemens and James Clerk Maxwell recognized the importance of this discovery. Following the work of Russell Ohl in the 1940s, researchers Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin created the silicon solar cell in 1954. These early solar cells cost 286 USD/watt and reached efficiencies of 4.56%.

Solar Power Satellite & Microwave Power Transmission

Photovoltaic system Simplified schematics of a grid-connected residential PV power system

Comparison of PV versus SD:

The main problems with PV are that PV cells continue to be relatively expensive, and require a relatively large area to be acceptable. In addition, being semiconductors, the PV panels will require a reasonably large amount of energy to produce. SD is a more mature technology, having been in widespread use in many contexts for centuries. But, SD has a much more severe pointing requirement than PV because most proposed designs require accurate and stable optical focus. If a PV array drifts off a few degrees, the power being produced will drop a few percent. But, if an SD array drifts off a few degrees, the power produced will drop off very quickly to zero, or near to it. Currently, PV cells weigh between 0.5kg/kW and 10kg/kW depending on design. SD designs also vary but most seem to be heavier per kW produced than PV cells and thus this pushes up launch costs. SD uses a heat cycle to drive a piston or a turbine which connects to a generator or dynamo. Two popular cycles for Solar Dynamic are Brayton Cycle or Stirling Cycle. Solar Dynamic systems employ a large reflector to focus sunlight to a high concentration to achieve a high temperature for the heat cycle to operate at highest possible efficiency.

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Energy payback:
Clearly for a system (including manufacture, launch and deployment) to provide net power it must repay the energy needed to construct it. For current silicon PV panels the energy needs are relatively high and typically several years of deployment in a terrestrial environment are needed to recover this energy. With SPS net energy received on the ground is higher (more or less necessarily so, for the system to be worth deploying), so this energy payback period would be somewhat reduced; however SD, being made of conventional materials, are more similar to conventional power stations and are likely to be less energy intensive and would be expected to give quicker energy break even, depending on construction technology.

Wireless power transmission to the Earth:

The power could be transmitted as either microwave or laser radiation at a variety of frequencies depending on system design. Whatever choice is made, the transmitting radiation would have to be non-ionizing to avoid potential disturbances either ecologically or biologically if it is to reach the Earth's surface. This established an upper bound for the frequency used, as energy per photon, and so the ability to cause ionization, increases with frequency. Ionization of biological materials doesn't begin until ultraviolet or higher frequencies so most radio frequencies will be acceptable for this. William C. Brown demonstrated in 1964 on CBS news with Walter Cronkite, Between 1969 and 1975 Bill Brown was technical director of a JPL Raytheon program that beamed 30 kW over a distance of 1 mile at 84% efficiency. As well, to minimize the sizes of the antennas used, the wavelength should be small (and frequency correspondingly high) since antenna efficiency increases as antenna size increases. But, higher radio frequencies are typically more absorbed in the atmosphere than lower radio frequencies. For these reasons, 2.45 GHz has been proposed as being a reasonable compromise. However, that frequency results in large antenna sizes at the GEO distance. A loitering stratospheric airship has been proposed to receive higher frequencies (or even laser beams), converting them to something like 2.45 GHz for retransmission to the ground. The proposal has not been as carefully evaluated for engineering plausibility as other aspects of SPS design. Wireless energy transfer or wireless power is the transmission of electrical energy from a power source to an electrical load without a conductive physical connection. Wireless transmission is useful in cases where interconnecting wires are inconvenient, hazardous, or impossible. The problem of wireless power transmission differs from that of wireless telecommunications, such as radio. In the latter, the proportion of energy received becomes critical only if it is too low for the signal to be distinguished from the background noise.

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Spacecraft sizing:
The sizing will be dominated by the distance from Earth to geostationary orbit (22,300 miles, 35,700 km), the chosen wavelength of the microwaves, and the laws of physics, specifically the Rayleigh Criterion or Diffraction limit, used in standard RF (Radio Frequency) antenna design. For best efficiency, the satellite antenna should be circular and about 1 kilometres in diameter or larger; the ground antenna (rectenna) should be elliptical and around 14 kilometres by 10 kilometres. Smaller antennas would result in increased losses to diffraction/sidelobes. For the desired (23mW/cmAA2) microwave intensity these antennas could transfer between 5 and 10 gigawatts of power. To be most cost effective, the system needs to operate at maximum capacity. And, to collect and convert that much power, the satellite would need between 50 and 100 square kilometres of collector area (if readily available ~14% efficient monocrystalline silicon solar cells were deployed).State of the art (currently, quite expensive, triple junction gallium arsenide) solar cells with a maximum efficiency of 40.7% could reduce the necessary collector area by two thirds, but would not necessarily give overall lower costs. In either case, the SPS's structure would be kilometres wide, making it larger than most man-made structures here on Earth. While almost certainly not beyond current engineering capabilities, building structures of this size in orbit has not yet been attempted.

Earth based infrastructure:

The Earth-based receiver antenna (or rectenna) is a critical part of the original SPS concept. It would probably consist of many short dipole antennas, connected via diodes. Microwaves broadcast from the SPS will be received in the dipoles with about 85% efficiencyWith a conventional microwave antenna, the reception efficiency is still better, but the cost and complexity is also considerably greater, almost certainly prohibitively so. Rectennas would be multiple kilometers across. Crops and farm animals may be raised underneath a rectenna, as the thin wires used for support and for the dipoles will only slightly reduce sunlight, so such a rectenna would not be as expensive in terms of land use as might be supposed.

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WIRELESS POWER TRANSMISSION:

Transmission or distribution of 50 or 60 Hz electrical energy from the generation point to the consumer end without any physical wire has yet to mature as a familiar and viable technology. However, the reported works on terrestrial WPT have not revealed the design method and technical information and also have not addressed the full-scale potential of WPT as compared with the alternatives, such as a physical power distribution line. However the main thrust of WPT has been on the concept of space-to-ground (extraterrestrial) transmission of energy using microwave beam.

The block diagram of a conceptual WPT system annexed to a grid .

The 50 Hz ac power tapped from the grid lines is stepped down to a suitable voltage level for rectification into dc. This is supplied to an oscillator fed magnetron. Inside the magnetron electrons are emitted from a central terminal called cathode. A positively charged anode surrounding the cathode attracts the electrons. Instead of traveling in a straight line, the electrons are forced to take a circular path by a high power permanent magnet. As they pass by the resonating cavities of the magnetron, a continuous pulsating magnetic field i.e., electromagnetic radiation in microwave frequency range is generated. After the first round of cavity-to-cavity trip by the electrons is completed the next one starts, and this process continues as long as the magnetron remains energized. Fig.4 shows the formation of a re-entrant electron beam in a typical six cavity magnetron. The output of the rectifier decides the magnetron anode dc voltage. This in turn controls the radiation power output. The frequency of the radiation is adjusted by varying the inductance or capacitance of the resonating cavities. The idea Wireless Power Transmission and demonstrated the transmission of electrical energy without wires" that depends upon electrical conductivity as early as 1891. In 1893, Tesla demonstrated the illumination of vacuum bulbs without using wires for power transmission at the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

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Re-entrant electron beam in a six-cavity magnetron

The microwave power output of the magnetron is channelled into an array of parabolic reflector antennas for transmission to the receiving end antennas. To compensate for the large loss in free space propagation and boost at the receiving end the signal strength as well as the conversion efficiency, the antennas are connected in arrays, Moreover; arrayed installation of antennas will necessitate a compact size. A series parallel assembly of schottky diodes, having a low standing power rating but good RF characteristics is used at the receiving end to rectify the received microwave power back into dc. Inverter is used to invert the dc power into ac. A simple radio control feedback system operating in FM band provides an appropriate control signal to the magnetron for adjusting its output level with fluctuation in the consumers demand at the receiving side. The feedback system would switch of the supply to the oscillator and magnetron at the sending end if there is a total loss of load. It is known that electromagnetic energy also associated with the propagation of the electromagnetic waves. We can use theoretically all electromagnetic waves for a wireless power transmission (WPT). The difference between the WPT and communication systems is only efficiency.

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The overall efficiency of the WPT system can be improved by

Increasing directivity of the antenna array. Using dc to ac inverters with higher conversion efficiency. Using schottky diode with higher ratings.

MICROWAVE POWER TRANSMISSION IN SPS:

The microwave transmission system as envisioned by NASA and DOE would have had three aspects :

1. The conversion of direct power from the photovoltaic cells, to microwave power on the satellites on geosynchronous orbit above the Earth. 2. The formation and control of microwave beam aimed precisely at fixed locations on the Earths surface. 3. The collection of the microwave energy and its conversion into electrical energy at the earths surface.

It is known that electromagnetic energy also associated with the propagation of the Electromagnetic waves. We can use theoretically all electromagnetic waves for a wireless power transmission (WPT). The difference between the WPT and communication systems is only efficiency. The ability to accomplish the task of efficiently delivering electrical power wirelessly is dependent upon the component efficiencies used in transmitting and receiving apertures and the ability to focus the electromagnetic beam onto the receiving rectenna. Microwave WPT is achieved by an unmodulated, continuous wave signal with a band width of 1Hz. Frequency of choice for microwave WPT has been 2.45GHz due to factors such as low cost power components, location in the ISM band, extremely low attenuation through the atmosphere . The next suggested band centred at 5.8GHz system reduces the transmitting and receiving apertures. But this is not preferred due to increased attenuation on higher frequency. The key microwave components in a WPT system are the transmitter, beam control and the receiving antenna called rectenna .At the transmitting antenna, microwave power tubes such as magnetrons and klystrons are used as RF power sources. However, at frequencies below 10 GHz, high power solid state devices can also be used. For beam safety and control retro directive arrays are used. Rectenna is a component unique to WPT systems. The following section describes each of these components in detail.

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TRANSMITTER:
The key requirement of a transmitter is its ability to convert dc power to RF power efficiently and radiate the power to a controlled manner with low loss. The transmitters efficiency drives the end-to-end efficiency as well as thermal management system i.e., any heat generated from inefficiencies in the dc-RF conversion, should be removed from the transmitter as it reduces the life time of RF devices and control electronics. Passive inter modulation is another field which requires critical attention. Filtering of noise and suppression of harmonics will be required to meet he regulatory requirement. The main components of a transmitter include dc-to-RF converter and transmitting antenna. . The complexity of the transmitter depends on the WPT application. For the large scale WPT application such as SPS, phased array antennas are required to distribute the RF power sources across the aperture and electronically control the power beam.

Power distribution at the transmitting antenna= (1-r),

Where r is the radius of antenna. There are mainly three dc-to-RF power converters: magnetrons, Klystrons and solid state amplifiers.

Klystron:

Schematic diagram of a klystron amplifier

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Here a high velocity electron beam is formed, focused and send down a glass tube to a collector electrode which is at high positive potential with respect to the cathode. As the electron beam having constant velocity approaches gap A, they are velocity modulated by the RF voltage existing across this gap. Thus as the beam progress further down the drift tube, bunching of electrons takes place. Eventually the current pass the catcher gap in quite pronounce bunches and therefore varies cyclically with time. This variation in current enables the klystron to have significant gain. Thus the catcher cavity is excited into oscillations at its resonant frequency and a large output is obtained.

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The tube body and solenoid operate at 300C and the collector operates at 500C. The overall efficiency is 83%. The microwave power density at the transmitting array will be 1 kW/m for a typical 1 GW SPS with a transmitting antenna aperture of 1 km diameter. If we use 2.45 GHz for MPT, the number of antenna elements per square meter is on the order of 100. Therefore the power allotted to the individual antenna element is of the order of 10 W/element. So we must distribute the high power to individual antenna through a power divider

BEAM CONTROL:
A key system and safety aspect of WPT in its ability to control the power beam. Retro directive beam control systems have been the preferred method of achieving accurate beam pointing. As shown in fig.7 a coded pilot signal is emitted from the rectenna towards the SPS transmitter to provide a phase reference for forming and pointing the power beams. To form the power beam and point it back forwards the rectenna, the phase of the pilot signal is captured by the receiver located at each sub array is compared to an onboard reference frequency distributed equally throughout the array. If a phase difference exists between the two signals, the received signal is phase conjugated and fed back to earth dc-RF converted. In the absence of the pilot signal, the transmitter will automatically diphase its power beam, and the peak power density decreases by the ratio of the number of transmitter elements.

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RECTENNA:
Brown was the pioneer in developing the first 2.45GHz rectenna . Rectenna is the microwave to dc converting device and is mainly composed of a receiving antenna and a rectifying circuit. Fig .8 shows the schematic of rectenna circuit. It consists of a receiving antenna, an input low pass filter, a rectifying circuit and an output smoothing filter. The input filter is needed to suppress re radiation of high harmonics that are generated by the non-linear characteristics of rectifying circuit. Because it is a highly nonlinear circuit, harmonic power levels must be suppressed. One method of suppressing harmonics is by placing a frequency selective surface in front of the rectenna circuit that passes the operating frequency and attenuates the harmonics.

For rectifying Schottky barrier diodes utilizing silicon and gallium arsenide are employed. In rectenna arrays, the diode is the most critical component to chieve higher efficiencies because it is the main source of loss. Diode selection is dependent on the input power levels. The breakdown voltage limits the power handling capacity and is directly related to series resistance and junction capacitance through the intrinsic properties of diode junction and material .For efficient rectification the diode cut off frequency should be approximately ten times the operating frequency. Diode cut off frequency is given by =1/ [2_RsCj], where is the cut off frequency, Rs is the diode series resistance, Cj is the zerobias junction capacitance.The ground segment of the power system is rectennas. A typical rectenna is shown in Fig. . Different types of rectennas are assumed to be designed to meet different regional requirements. The following system elements are specified for rectennas: 1100 Rectenna Control 1200 Rectenna Construction

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RECENTLY DEVELOPED MPT SYSTEMS:

The Kyoto University developed a system called Space Power Radio Transmission System (SPORTS). The SPORTS is composed of solar panels, a microwave transmitter subsystem, a near field scanner, a microwave receiver. The solar panels provide 8.4 kW dc power to the microwave transmitter subsystem composed of an active phased array. It is developed to simulate the whole power conversion process for the SPS, including solar cells, transmitting antennas and rectenna system. Another MPT system recently developed by a team of Kyoto University, NASDA and industrial companies of Japan, is an integrated unit called the Solar Power Radio Integrated Transmitter (SPRITZ), developed in 2000. This unit is composed of a solar cell panel, microwave generators, transmitting array antennas and a receiving array in one package. This integrated unit as shown in fig.9 could be a prototype of a large scale experimental module in the orbit

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CONSTRUCTION OF SPS FROM NON TERRESTRIAL MATERIALS: FEASIBILITY AND ECONOMICS

The plan envisioned sending small segments of the satellites into space using the space shuttle. The projected cost of a SPS could be considerably reduced if extra-terrestrial resources are employed in the construction .One often discussed road to lunar resource utilization is to start with mining and refining of lunar oxygen, the most abundant element in the Moons crust, for use as a component of rocket fuel to support lunar base as well as exploration mission. The aluminium and silicon can be refined to produce solar arrays.A number of factors combine to make the concept of using non-conventional materials appear to be feasible. Among them are the shallow gravity wells of the Moon and asteroids; the presence of an abundance of glass, metals and oxygen in the Apollo lunar samples; the low cost transport of those materials to a higher earth orbit by means of a solar-powered electric motor; the availability of continuous solar energy for transport, processing and living. Transportation requirement for SPS will be much more needed for known for known commercial applications. One major new development for transportation is required: the mass driver.The mass driver is a long and narrow machine which converts electrical energy into kinetic energy by accelerating 0.001 to 10 kg slugs to higher velocities. Each payloadcarrying bucket contains superconducting coils and is supported without physical contact by means of dynamic magnetic levitation. As in the case of a linear synchronous motor-generator, buckets are accelerated by a magnetic field, release their payload, decelerate with return energy and pick up another pay load for acceleration. The power source can be either solar or nuclear. The mass driver conversion efficiency from electrical to kinetic energy is close to 100 percent. The mass driver can be used as a launcher of lunar material into free space or as a reaction engine in space, where payloads are transferred from orbit to orbit in a spiral trajectory. The performance of the mass driver could match that of the space shuttle main engines. But the mass driver has the any material can be used as fuel and continuous solar power in space is the common power source. An alternative to the use of lunar resources for space manufacturing is the use of earth-approaching a steroidal materials.

Microwaves of 2.45 GHz frequency are used to transmit power from the satellite to the rectenna. The system power is defined by the microwave power transmitted from the satellite, not by the power received on earth. Figure 2 shows a schematic of microwaves beam control and rectenna location.

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MICROWAVES-ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

The price of implementing a SPS includes the acceptance of microwave beams as the link of that energy between space and earth. Because of their large size, SPS would appear as a very bright star in the relatively dark night sky. SPS in GEO would show more light than Venus at its brightest. Thus, the SPS would be quite visible and might be objectionable. SPS posses many environmental questions such as microwave exposure, optical pollution that could hinder astronomers , the health and safety of space workers in a heavy-radiation (ionizing) environment , the potential disturbance of the ionosphere etc.The atmospheric studies indicate that these problems are not significant , at least for the chosen microwave frequency. On the earth, each rectenna for a full-power SPS would be about 10 km in diameter. This significant area possesses classical environmental issues.These could be overcome by siting rectenna in environmentally insensitive locations, such as in the desert, over water etc. The classic rectenna design would be transparent in sunlight, permitting growth and maintenance of vegetation under the rectenna. However, the issues related to microwaves continue to be the most pressing environmental issues. On comparing with the use of radar, microwave ovens , police radars, cellular phones and wireless base stations, laser pointers etc. public exposures from SPS would be similar or even less. Based on well developed antenna theory, the environmental levels of microwave power beam drop down to 0.1W/cm . Even though human exposures to the 25 mW/cmwill, in general, be avoided, studies shows that people can tolerate such exposures for a period of at least 45 min.So concern about human exposure can be dismissed forthrightly.Specific research over the years has been directed towards effects on birds, in particular. Modern reviews of this research show that only some birds may experience some thermal stress at high ambient temperatures. Of course, at low ambient temperatures the warming might be welcomed by birds and may present a nuisance attraction Serious discussions and education are required before most of mankind accepts this technology with global dimensions. The starting point for an investigation of the environmental impact of a high powermicrowave beam passing through the atmosphere is the heating of the electron gas in theionosphere due to the collisional absorption effects treated in section 2.1. This heating increases the temperature of the electron gas and this in turn has a number of consequences for the plasma density and chemical content of the atmosphere at ionospheric heights, due to dependence of the rates of chemical reactions on the electron temperature. These changes in response to microwave heating in the context of SPS systems are outlined below.

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CHALLENGES:
The development and implementation of any new energy source present major challenges. And it is acknowledged that bringing about the use of Space Solar Power on the Earth may be particularly daunting because it is so different. The major challenges are perceived to be: (1) The mismatch between the time horizon for the implementation of SSP and that for the expansion of conventional energy resources (2) The fact that space power is intrinsically global, requiring enterprise models that give every player a suitable stake and adequate safeguards (3) The potential for concerns over reliability, safety and environmental implications (4) The need to obtain publicly-allocated resources outside the normal purview of the energy community (5) The prevailing mind set which tends to view the future energy infrastructure as an extrapolation of the present one. However great the challenges, it is important to enhance global energy systems so they work for all the people of the Earth. It is asserted that a prudent course would be to give serious attention to all plausible options and prepare to implement several if needed. It is well understood that something as vast as the global energy system can change only slowly. In fact, it takes from 50 to 75 years for one source to lose dominance and be replaced by another. Even if it is recognized and agreed that a shift to different sources is needed, penetration would be slow. The time horizon for implementing Space Solar Power will be at least a couple of decades. Current work being carried out in the US by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and in Japan by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) indicate that demonstrations of space-to-ground transmission of power could come in the current decade and initial commercial power delivery in about 20 years. A significant contribution in terms of global energy would clearly take substantially longer. The challenge presented by this mismatch can be addressed in two ways. A commonly proposed approach to ensuring fail-safe beam targeting is to use a retro directive phased array antenna. A "pilot" microwave beam emitted from the centre of the rectenna on the ground establishes a phase front at the transmitting antenna. There, circuits in each of the antenna's sub arrays compare the pilot beam's phase front with an internal clock phase to control the phase of the outgoing signal. This forces the transmitted beam to be centred precisely on the rectenna and to have a high degree of phase uniformity; if the pilot beam is lost for any reason, such a system would be physically incapable of focusing its power beam anywhere that did not have a pilot beam transmitted.

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Lifetime:
The lifetime of a PV based SPS is limited mainly by the ionizing radiation from the radiation belts and the Sun. Without some method of protection, this is likely to cause the cells to continuously degrade by about a percent or two per year. Deterioration is likely to be more rapid during periods of high exposure to energetic protons from solar particle events . If some practical protection can be designed, this also might be reducible. Lifetimes for SD based SPS designs will be limited by structural and mechanical considerations, such as micrometeorite impact, metal fatigue of turbine blades, wear of sliding surfaces (although this might be avoidable by hydrostatic bearings or magnetic bearings), degradation or loss of lubricants and working fluids in vacuum, from loss of structural integrity leading to impaired optical focus amongst components, and from temperature extreme effects. As well, most mirror surfaces will degrade from both radiation and particle impact, but such mirrors can be designed simply (and so light and cheap), so replacement may be practical. In either case, another advantage of the SPS design is that waste heat developed at collection points is re-radiated back into space, instead of warming the adjacent local biosphere as with conventional sources; thus thermal efficiency will not be in itself an important design parameter except insofar as it affects the power/weight ratio via operational efficiency and hence pushes up launch costs. (For example SD may require larger radiators when operating at a lower efficiency). Earth based power handling systems must always be carefully designed, for both economic and purely engineering reasons, with operational thermal efficiency in mind.

Solar cells: The most critical issue of SPS2000 design to satisfy the basic requirements is
availability of the key electric technologies, such as a large number of solar cells and a large number of high efficiency and low cost semiconductors for the spacetenna. However, solar cells developed for terrestrial use seem to be usable in space, according to our preliminary study. On the other hand, the application of the current space technology will be difficult both in the required reduction of cost and in mass production. Phased array antenna: The key issue is to minimize the power level of "grating lobes " which are unavoidable for a phased array antenna. The number of antenna elements is increased while each element transmits less power in order to satisfy this requirement. Semiconductor devices are chosen for the antenna elements. However, the efficiency is not high enough to achieve high power density at the antenna surface using the present-day technology.

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ADVANTAGES:
The idea collecting solar energy in space and returning it to earth using microwave beam has many attractions. The full solar irradiation would be available at all times expect when the Sun is eclipsed by the earth. Thus about five times energy could be collected, compared with the best terrestrial sites. The power could be directed to any point on the earths surface. The zero gravity and high vacuum condition in space would allow much lighter, low maintenance structures and collectors. The power density would be uninterrupted by darkness, clouds, or precipitation, which are the problems encountered with earth based solar arrays. The realization of the SPS concept holds great promises for solving energy crisis. No moving parts. No fuel required. No waste product.

Disadvantages:
The concept of generating electricity from solar energy in the space itself has its inherent disadvantages also. Some of the major disadvantages are: The main drawback of solar energy transfer from orbit is the storage of electricity during off peak demand hours. The frequency of beamed radiation is planned to be at 2.45 GHz and this frequency is used by communication satellites also. The entire structure is massive. High cost and require much time for construction. Radiation hazards associated with the system. Risks involved with malfunction. High power microwave source and high gain antenna can be used to deliver an intense burst of energy to a target and thus used as a weapon.

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CONCLUSION

The SPS will be a central attraction of space and energy technology in coming decades. However, large scale retro directive power transmission has not yet been proven and needs further development. Another important area of technological development will be the reduction of the size and weight of individual elements in the space section of SPS. Largescale transportation and robotics for the construction of large-scale structures in space include the other major fields of technologies requiring further developments. Technical hurdles will be removed in the coming one or two decades. Finally, we look forward to universal acceptance of the premise the electromagnetic energy is a tool to improve the quality of life for mankind. It is not a pollutant but more aptly, a man made extension of the naturally generated electromagnetic spectrum that provides heat and light for our sustenance. From this view point, the SPS is merely a down frequency converter from the visible spectrum to microwaves.

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REFERENCES:
http://www.google.com http://www.wikipedia.com

Hiroshi Matsumoto, Research on solar power satellites and microwave power transmission in Japan, IEEE microwave magazine, pp.36-45, Dec 2002. James O. Mcspadden & John C. Mankins,Space solar power programs and microwave wireless power transmission technology, IEEE microwave magazine, pp.46-57, Dec 2002. J.C. Mankins,A fresh look at space solar power: new architectures, concepts and technologies in 38th Astronautical Federation. Seth Potter, Solar power satellites: an idea whose time has come [online] Available on www.freemars.org/history/sps.html, last updated on Dec.1998. Consumer Energy Information: EREC Reference Briefs www.eere.gov/consumerinfo/rebriefs/123.html,last updated on Apr.03. Mc GrawHill Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology, vol.16, pp.41. Om P.Gandhi,Microwave engineering and application, PHI. Geoffrey A.Landis,A super synchronous solar power , Presented at SPS-97: Space &electric power for humanity, 24-25 Aug 1997, Montreal, Canada. Geoffrey A.Landis,An evolutionary path to SPS, Space power, vol.9,no.4, pp.365-371, 1990. S.S.Ahmed, T.W.Yeong and H.B.Ahmad,Wireless power transmission and its annexure to the grid system, IEE Proc.-Gener.Transm.Distrib.,Vol.150, No.2, March 2003. Kennedy Electronics Communication Systems, Tata McGraw Hill. B.OLeary,The construction of satellite solar power stations from non-terrestrial materials: feasibity and economics, Alternative energy sources, Vol.3, pp.1155-1164. John M.Osepchuk,How safe are microwaves and solar power from space, IEEE microwave magazine, pp.58-64, Dec.2002. International Encyclopaedia of Energy, Vol.4, pp.771. David M.Pozar,Microwave Engineering, Wiley [online] Available

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