Studies on solar power satellites with down-converter solar cells

The Solar Power Satellite (SPS) is a renewable energy technology potentially capable of meeting the projected worldwide energy demand for future generations. Some general aspects of SPSs are discussed in this paper. It was calculated that a power output of 97.24 MW (almost double the power produced by a typical natural gas plant) could be generated using a theoretical system with solar photovoltaics with a total optimised dimension of 0.18 km2. Among the potential problems discussed are the possible effect of microwaves on living organisms and the high capital costs involved in building and launching the satellite into a suitable orbit. © 2015 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.