SPACE-BASED SOLAR POWER: A TECHNICAL, ECONOMIC, AND OPERATIONAL ASSESSMENT
STRATEGIC STUDIES INSTITUTE & UNITED STATES ARMY WAR COLLEGE PRESS APRIL 2015
“With regard to military operations, the report noted that “for the DoD
[Department of Defense] specifically, beamed energy from space in quantities
greater than 5-MWe has the potential to be a disruptive game changer on the
battlefield.” P.10
“The wireless energy transmission subsystem has received considerable attention in every major SBSP study. The two most popular choices are either microwave or laser transmission subsystems. Microwaves have the advantage of significantly better efficiencies but require very large transmitting antennae, which, in turn, drive the need for large receiving antennae on the ground. Lasers are more compact and require much smaller ground receivers, but this drives the need for more accurate beam pointing.” P.16
Electromagnetic Link.
As mentioned, the electromagnetic (EM) link that provides wireless power transmission from the SBSP satellite and ground receiver would most likely be high-intensity microwave or laser beams. In theory, frequency ranges of 2.5 to 5.4 gigahertz (GHz) and 35 to 38-GHz are optimal for such application. While most studies favor the lower-frequency range, the higher range requires much smaller transmission and reception antennae and will produce less ionospheric heating.46 P. 17
LINK TO PATENT Method and apparatus for converting solar radiation to electrical power