• The effects of the transmission network on system reliability were ignored. This assumption tends to decrease the generating margin. • The probability that the demand for power as a function of time would exceed the expected values was assumed to be zero. This assumption tends to decrease the required generating margin. • When examining the use of redundant ground stations in order to eliminate any requirement for scheduled maintenance of the SPS, it was implicitly assumed that the power output of the spaceborne part of the SPS had a zero probability of being interrupted by any mechanism other than an eclipse of the sun by the earth. This tends to decrease the required reserve margin. (Scheduled maintenance of the satellite will probably be required, since an SPS with no scheduled maintenance is virtually impossible. However, the effect of this scheduled maintenance on the availability of SPS energy may be quite small.) • Eclipses of the sun by the moon and other SPSs were ignored. This decreases the required reserve margin from what would be required if all eclipses were considered. Results All of the above assumptions have had some effect on the results of the reliability study; thus, although the results of the calculations indicate that the proposed size of the SPS is likely to cause a significant increase in the required reserve margin, these results are not conclusive. They merely indicate that a problem exists and that a more detailed study is required.
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