Abstract Orbiting solar reflectors (OSRs) are flat, thin and lightweight reflective structures that are proposed to enhance terrestrial solar energy generation by illuminating large terrestrial solar power plants locally around dawn/dusk and during night hours. The incorporation of OSRs into terrestrial energy systems may offset the daylight-only limitation of terrestrial solar energy. However, the quantity of solar energy delivered to the Earth’s surface remains low due to short duration of orbital passes and the low density of the reflected solar power due to large slant ranges. To compensate for these, this paper proposes a constellation of multiple reflectors in low-Earth orbit for scalable enhancement of the quantity of energy delivered. Circular near-polar orbits of 1000 km altitude in the terminator region are considered in a Walker-type constellation for a preliminary analysis. Starting from a simplified approach, the equations of Walker constellations describing the distribution of the reflectors are first modified by introducing a phasing parameter to ensure repeating pass-geometry over solar power farms. This approach allows for a single groundtrack optimisation to define the constellation, which was carried out by a genetic algorithm for single and two reflectors per orbit with an objective function defined as the total quantity of energy delivered per day, to existing and hypothetical solar power projects around the Earth. When full-scale constellations are considered with a number of reflectors, the quantity of solar energy delivered is substantial in the broader context of global terrestrial solar energy generation.

    Highlights Terrestrial solar energy enhancement by constellation of orbiting reflectors is proposed. Scalable, predictable and continuous solar energy from space is aimed. Walker constellation equations are modified for repeating reflector passes. Groundtrack optimised by genetic algorithm to maximise daily energy delivery. Quantity of daily solar energy delivered is considerable in the global context.


    Zugriff

    Zugriff prüfen

    Verfügbarkeit in meiner Bibliothek prüfen

    Bestellung bei Subito €


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    A constellation design for orbiting solar reflectors to enhance terrestrial solar energy


    Beteiligte:
    Çelik, Onur (Autor:in) / McInnes, Colin R. (Autor:in)

    Erschienen in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 217 ; 145-161


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2024-01-25


    Format / Umfang :

    17 pages




    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)


    Format :

    Elektronische Ressource


    Sprache :

    Englisch




    Enhancing terrestrial solar power using orbiting solar reflectors

    Çelik, Onur / Viale, Andrea / Oderinwale, Temitayo et al. | Elsevier | 2022


    ENHANCING TERRESTRIAL SOLAR POWER USING ORBITING SOLAR REFLECTORS

    Çelik, Onur / Viale, Andrea / Oderinwale, Temitayo et al. | TIBKAT | 2022


    A reference architecture for orbiting solar reflectors to enhance terrestrial solar power plant output

    Viale, Andrea / Çelik, Onur / Oderinwale, Temitayo et al. | Elsevier | 2023


    Attitude control actuator scaling laws for orbiting solar reflectors

    PhD Viale, Andrea / McInnes, Colin R. | Elsevier | 2022


    Basic concepts of orbiting reflectors

    BUCKINGHAM, A. / WATSON, H.M. | AIAA | 1967