textfiles/magazines/SPACEPOWER/v1no008

Date: Sat, 29 May 93 04:00:16    
From: ISU Space Power Digest <digests@isu.isunet.edu>
Reply-To: Space-Power-request@isu.isunet.edu
Subject: Space Power Digest V1 #008
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Space Power Digest          Sat, 29 May 93       Volume 1 : Issue 008 

Today's Topics:
                    solar power news via internet

	Welcome to the ISU Space Power Digest!!  This digest will
        seek to provide a forum for discussion of wireless power
        transmission, solar power systems.  It is hosted by alumni
        and faculty of the International Space University, but is
        open to everyone with an interest in this area.  

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Date: Fri, 28 May 1993 14:07 EDT
From: USRNAME <CANOUGH%BINGVAXA.bitnet@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: solar power news via internet

********** Solar Power News via Internet *************
May 28,1993
your friendly editor, G.E. Canough

Any size space solar power station likely to be built in the
near future will most probably use photovoltaics(PV). This
is just because, we have the most experience with using
these in space. I expect that further down the road, other
means of using sunlight will also be developed, such as
solar dynamic. But for now, PV is "it". This means that we
(the SPS community) should become informed as to what is
going on in terrestrial PV. Bob Forstrom (whom I met at the
latest Princeton space manufacturing conference) designs and
builds solar powered houses and he stressed to me the need
for getting informed about terrestrial solar. He also
supplied me with a pile of information on just what is
going, so I figured I'd pass it on here.

As it turns out, the USA may be in for the dawn of a new day
in the area of solar energy. Some of the programs the US
dept. of energy (DOE) used to do have been closed out
(nuclear weapons and nuclear reactor research) and so DOE
has intelligently increased funding for PV research and
development by 25%.

Here's a sample of what is going on:

UPVG and SMUD
Power companies in the USA have just formed (as of Dec.
1991) the Utility Photovoltaic Group, UPVG) in order to
foster development of PV systems for use as power plants and
for individual buildings. One utility, the Sacramento
Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has already requested
proposals and received proposals for a program which
includes 400 kW worth of residential systems, 100 kW worth
of commercial (at individual buildings) systems and a 200 kW
PV substation.

PV producers:
United Solar, Inc. This company is building a new factory in
Virginia. It plans to manufacture 10 MW per year worth of
PV.
Photocomm in AZ has received a $1M order for PV systems
Golden Photon, Inc. is installing a factory to build CdTe PV
modules, 2MW worth per year.

Batteries:
A new type of battery has just been invented. It can be
recharged in just 15 minutes.

Races:
Several solar powered vehicle races are taking place this
year.

To get all the latest info on PV developments, subscribe to
one or both of these newsletters:
PV News, Paul Maycock PV Energy Systems Inc. PO Box 290,
Casanova, VA 22017 phone = 703 788 9626
Photovoltaic Insider's Report, Richard Curry 1011 W.
Colorado Blvd, Dallas TX 75208 phone = 214 942 5248

You are also encouraged to subscribe to the SUNSAT Energy
Council Newsletter where all the latest on SPS and wireless
power transmission will be reported! [SUNSAT Energy Council
Newsletter c/o ETM, Inc., PO Box 67, Endicott, NY 13761,
$25/yr.]

The increase in PV production is a definite plus for solar
power, since the main reason PV is expensive is that it is
not mass produced. We will see the prices drop as the
production increases.

Although we often cast the power companies in the role of
"the bad guys" for burning coal, many of them are very
concerned about the affect of fossil fuel burning and are
funding efforts to develop solar energy. A local example of
that is New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG), which is
funding a large PV array to be installed at the Kopernik
Observatory. This array (4kW) will be used to power the
lights at the newly installed science center at the
observatory. And there are 62 power companies who are
members of the UPVG. So there is a lot of concern and money
is being spent.

On May 10, there was an IEEE PV conference in Louisville,
KY. I found out about it too late to attend. If any of you
went (Lewis PV people?), I would really appreciate getting a
summary of the conference posted here.

Ground based PV won't be able to meet all the energy needs
of Earth, but it can be used much more than it is now, and
this is all to the good. Producers of PV are likely to be
very interested in the prospect of space solar power
stations, since these larger stations represent an very
large market for PV.

I have also just learned some new info on climate change. I
have not been a real alarmist about this in the past, but
recent data is quite disturbing. So stay tuned for the next
edition of The Solar Power News, via Internet!

Dr. Gay E. Canough ETM,Inc. and BU-SUNY, dept.of physics
e-mail(Internet):  CANOUGH@BINGVAXA.CC.BINGHAMTON.EDU
         (GEnie)   :  G.CANOUGH
phone/fax= 607 785 6499    voice mail = 800 673 8265
radio call sign:   KB2OXA

'Snail Mail:
ETM, Inc.
PO Box 67
Endicott, NY 13761

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End of Space Power Digest Volume 1 : Issue 008
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