solar panel space

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How much better does a solar panel work in space compared to on the earths surface.?

If it is more ificcient to produce electricity in space from solar panels, would it be posible to have a geo stationary satalite to send the electricity down to earth in a long cable. Could this solve the worlds energy needs.

Solar panels work better in space because
1. there is no atmosphere to effect how much sunlight gets to the solar arrays
2. there are never any clouds
3. in GEO there is less blockage from the sun.

However, the solar panels would have to remain pointed at the sun by either rotating the panels or the whole satellite.

It is theoretically possible to run cables to GEO. Such cables would have to be extremely strong to stand up to tidal forces, disturbances on the atmosphere, etc. The technology for this has not been developed yet. Let’s just say that there are a lot of issues to work out. Most likely the first place a space tether will be use is the Moon where there wouldn’t be any atmospheric effects.

Also, this kind of project would be extremely expensive. It would be much much cheaper to just build more solar panels on earth.

Communications satellite Photo Mugs Intelsat 7. Artists impression of an Intelsat7 communications satellite in orbit. Six Intelsat7 satellites have been built, placed into orbiteither by US Atlas or European Ariane launchers in1993-95. The 7-series was designed to cover thePacific Basin, providing up to 90, 000 voicechannels and three TV broadcasts simultaneously.The satellites are in geostationary orbit, andhave a design life of 15…

Communications satellite Photo Mugs Communications satellite. Artwork of anIntelsat communications satellite orbiting theEarth. Intelsat satellites provide a sophisticatedbroadcast service of communication channels to allareas of the globe. They operate from ageostationary orbit 35, 900 kilometres above theEarth. This allows them to rotate with the Earth, remaining stationary above the same point on theEarths surface…..

Eureca satellite Photo Mugs Eureca satellite in orbit. Artwork of theEuropean Retrievable Carrier (Eureca) satellite.Eureca was designed for orbital missions of up toone year, after which it can be retrieved by aShuttle and returned to Earth. It then has thepossibility of being redeployed for furthermissions. It was initially deployed by ShuttleAtlantis on 1 August 1992 during Mission STS-46, and retrieved during Mission STS…

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