SimCity 2000 is Coming Soon

[Viper 12219]

https://www.abqjournal.com/1484651

Quote

Beaming solar power from space to Earth is becoming practical

BY KEVIN ROBINSON-AVILA / JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

In the near future, solar power collected in space and beamed down to Earth could power military and civilian installations, vehicles and devices in remote places across the globe.

The foundational technology is already in hand, and the first small-scale demonstration project will be ready for launch in 2023, thanks to a broad collaboration between the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, and private industry partners here and elsewhere.

Apart from providing around-the-clock power on demand beamed from space, the new solar cells, panels and production processes being developed through the program could revolutionize space-based power systems in general and terrestrial photovoltaic installations by offering higher-efficiency systems at much lower cost than is available today.

The potentially “game-changing” technology could become widely available over the next decade, said Col. Eric Felt, head of the Space Vehicles Directorate.

“The technology has reached a point where we believe we can do it,” Felt told the Journal. “We’re in the final maturation phase for the key technologies, and we’ve got a road map for it … We’ve laid out the whole program, and we’re now on a path to build a 2-meter solar system for launch on a satellite in 2023 to prove the technology.”

Old tech, new use

The “spider” project – Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research, or SSPIDR – is actually building on technology created decades ago. Photovoltaic beaming, or wireless power transfer, was demonstrated in the 1970s, said SSPIDR project manager James Winter. It’s based on gathering solar energy with photovoltaic cells and then converting it to radio frequency for beaming from antennas to receivers.

That process is used for satellite TV, whereby solar energy is used to propagate radio frequency that’s then sent to the ground for communications. In the case of wireless power transfer, the radio frequency is received by a “rectifying antenna” that converts the frequency back to electricity, Winter said.

“The concept has been around a while,” Winter said. “With normal solar systems, you collect solar energy and convert it to direct current to charge up batteries on a satellite. … With a solar-to-radio-frequency module, there is no storage – you convert the solar energy to direct current and then to radio frequency with integrated circuits for transfer to a rectifying antenna that converts it back to direct current.”

Lowered costs

Space-based solar beaming hasn’t been done before because building the components and integrated systems and then flying them to space is very expensive. But through the DOD’s collaborative program, it’s now working to immensely lower the costs for building, integrating, transporting and operating a system.

That includes development of new, cheaper manufacturing processes for the high-efficiency solar cells needed to operate in space, plus automation of the assembly process for solar panels and systems to replace today’s labor-intensive methods.

Unlike the silicon-based solar cells used in terrestrial applications, photovoltaic for space requires more robust materials that can withstand harsh conditions, and which can produce more electricity from the sun to power spacecraft over long periods of time. Those materials, gallium arsenide and gallium indium, cost a lot more than silicon. And cell manufacturing is based on a very slow process called metal organic vapor phase epitaxy, or MOVPE, which deposits the pre-engineered chemicals onto a semiconductor wafer one layer at a time. Building those robust cells can push user end costs up to $300 a watt, compared with below $1 per watt for silicon cells.

 

[Red Six 131]

That's nice.

Now can Player 1 stop smashing the disaster buttons?

[atomheartbevo 90641]

4 hours ago, Red Six said:

That's nice.

Now can Player 1 stop smashing the disaster buttons?

[SimonBolivar 11064]

I'm still waiting on them to build my new home

 

[NeverMarryAStripper 22292]

In 2020 I can't think of a single reason why I wouldn't want power beams shooting down to the Earth

[Brisketexan 106885]

4 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

In 2020 I can't think of a single reason why I wouldn't want power beams shooting down to the Earth

Yep.  Chances of getting a free power utopia?  0%.

Chances of this?

 

200%

Fuck.  No.

[El Diablo 4232]

That rectumfrying antenna sounds hot.

[Newdoc 3511]

The first time the beams fry someone....

[gmr548 16695]

I nominate Norman, OK as the test site.

[Brisketexan 106885]

On the bright side....someone's about to get a shitload of popcorn....

[Blotto 24013]

5 hours ago, Viper said:

The potentially “game-changing” technology could become widely available over the next decade, said Col. Eric Felt, head of the Space Vehicles Directorate.

Somehow I doubt that. 

[LonghornSean 4103]

Takes me back

 

[tokamak 6687]

Takes me back
 

Childhood nostalgia straight into my veins. I listen to the SC3000 music sometimes at work to chill out.

[futureman 22695]

is there a website where you can play online?  would love to build a little city again. 

[Harrison Stafford 3392]

It’s amazing how quickly people become your allies when you sell them cheap energy and they know you can zap them any time you feel like it.

[52-80 19377]

Ok cool but can we get Duke Nukem Ultimate now?

[Cheeseweasel 26439]

1 minute ago, 52-80 said:

Ok cool but can we get Duke Nukem Ultimate now?

Yes, I would like to kick ass and chew bubble gum.

[JBJ 3822]

I forget if tumblr works here:

[NorthLoop 14464]

52 minutes ago, futureman said:

is there a website where you can play online?  would love to build a little city again. 

If you download the Origin portal I think it's like 5 bucks for SimCity 2000

[Doc Reeves 6434]

What could go wrong?

 

[atomheartbevo 90641]

1 hour ago, Blotto said:

Somehow I doubt that. 

Me too.   Pretty sure a bunch of companies and utilities would make sure it doesn’t happen, even if it was proven viable and safe.