SPS Symposia The CDEP studies of the DOE were based on a reference system that consisted of setting up 60 solar power satellites, each with a ground power with a usable unit value of 5000 MW. The conclusions of these initial studies showed that the solar power satellite concept was worthwhile and technically viable, albeit at a cost that was hard to evaluate and with ecological and institutional problems which still required in-depth research. Due to the energy context at the time, the project was considered non-urgent and it was recommended that it be placed under technological surveillance and undergo "state-of-the-art" checks, to be organized periodically. It was with this in mind that the first SPS International Symposium was organized in Paris in 1986. The event brought together approximately a hundred participants, and thirty papers were presented. Since 1986, a number of new elements have come into play in relation both to environment-friendly energy prospects for the 21st century, and technological aspects of SPS as well as systems associated with the concept. In order to assess the state-of-the-art in the field, the Second International Symposium, "SPS 91 : Power from Space", was organized at Paris, 27-30 of last August, by the SEE and ISF, with the support of Hubert Curien, French Minister for Research & Technology, and the honorary sponsorship of U.N.O. Because of the great challenges involved in their development, solar power stations will be international or will not be built at all. The "SPS 91" symposium thus had to have an objective that allowed for a truly international approach to this project. The Scientific Committee, presided over by Maurice Claverie (C.N.R.S.) and Peter Glaser (A.D. Little) was made up of around forty members from some fifteen countries. In addition to this, the event was supported by approximately twenty international associations from fields relating both to space and energy. 215 delegates from 20 countries took part in the work carried out at "SPS 91." Of these, 50 came from the U.S.A, and 30 from Eastern bloc countries. SPS Reference System From 1979 - 1981 the Department of Energy (DOE) and NASA jointly participated in a concept development and evaluation program which made a broad, end-to-end assessment of a geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) solar power satellite system that could convert solar energy collected in space into electrical energy for use on Earth. In the reference system developed for the assessment, each satellite had a collector made up of solar silicon (or GaAs-based) cells with an area of 50 km2. The mass of each satellite was estimated to be 35 to 50,000 tons. The design converted solar energy into direct current electrical energy, and included a microwave subsystem which used klystrons for conversion of the direct current to
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==