Collecting solar power by formation flying systems around a geostationary point

Salazar, F.J.T., Winter, O.C. and McInnes, C.R. (2018) Collecting solar power by formation flying systems around a geostationary point. Computational and Applied Mathematics, 37(Suppl1), pp. 84-95. (doi: 10.1007/s40314-017-0473-6)

[img]
Preview
Text
143898.pdf - Accepted Version

940kB

Abstract

Terrestrial solar power is severely limited by the diurnal day–night cycle. To overcome these limitations, a Solar Power Satellite (SPS) system, consisting of a space mirror and a microwave energy generator-transmitter in formation, is presented. The microwave transmitting satellite (MTS) is placed on a planar orbit about a geostationary point (GEO point) in the Earth’s equatorial plane, and the space mirror uses the solar pressure to achieve orbits about GEO point, separated from the planar orbit, and reflecting the sunlight to the MTS, which will transmit energy to an Earth-receiving antenna. Previous studies have shown the existence of a family of displaced periodic orbits above or below the Earth’s equatorial plane. In these studies, the sun-line direction is assumed to be in the Earth’s equatorial plane (equinoxes), and at 23.5∘ below or above the Earth’s equatorial plane (solstices), i.e. depending on the season, the sun-line moves in the Earth’s equatorial plane and above or below the Earth’s equatorial plane. In this work, the position of the Sun is approximated by a rectangular equatorial coordinates, assuming a mean inclination of Earth’s equator with respect to the ecliptic equal to 23.5∘. It is shown that a linear approximation of the motion about the GEO point yields bounded orbits for the SPS system in the Earth–satellite two-body problem, taking into account the effects of solar radiation pressure. The space mirror orientation satisfies the law of reflection to redirect the sunlight to the MTS. Additionally, a MTS on a common geostationary orbit (GEO) has been also considered to reduce the relative distance in the formation flying Solar Power Satellite (FF-SPS).

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:McInnes, Professor Colin
Authors: Salazar, F.J.T., Winter, O.C., and McInnes, C.R.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
Journal Name:Computational and Applied Mathematics
Publisher:Springer
ISSN:0101-8205
ISSN (Online):1807-0302
Published Online:05 July 2017
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2017 SBMAC - Sociedade Brasileira de Matemática Aplicada e Computacional
First Published:First published in Computational and Applied Mathematics 37(Supplement 1): 84-95
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record