Space to Sea Power Transmission

What We Do:

The Space to Sea Power Transmission system takes solar energy and uses it to provide power to victims in coastal cities after natural disasters. The system utilizes geostationary satellites to collect solar energy from 36,000km above the earth's surface. This energy is converted to microwaves and is beamed to one of our modified cargo ships. These modified ships each have a 100,000m² circular rectenna array. This array absorbs the microwaves sent from the satellite, converts them to electricity using a rectenna array and stores it in Tesla Powerpacks on the ship. After a natural disaster, the ship can move close to the impacted area and deploy a smaller boat to bring the connecting cables to shore. Using a method similar to that of offshore wind turbines, the Powerpacks will send their power through the cable into the existing power grid, providing a constant and long-lasting supply of power to the affected area.

How it works:

Transmitting Satellite

Satellite launched using SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket
Large solar cell arrays absorb sunlight
Arrays receive 144% of the maximum possible solar intensity on earth
Converts the energy to microwaves
Microwave emitter beams microwaves down to a rectenna array on earth

Microwaves and Reciever

Long wave microwave radiation is minimally affected by atmospheric disturbances, allowing nearly 100% transmission during the day
Microwaves are received by a rectenna array
Rectenna array converts the microwaves into electricity with an 85-90% efficency, three times more than that of industrial photovoltaic cells

Power Supply Ship

A modified Maersk Triple E class ship is used as the transportation platform
A 100,000m² rectenna array with a unique folding design is mounted on the deck and receives the incoming microwaves
The folded design allows the array to tilt and angle itself to capture the maximum microwave radiation and to fold up while travelling
Over 50,000 Tesla Powerpacks onboard store the electricity
While docked near shore, the rectenna can still recieve microwaves and store the electricity in the Powerpacks

Powerpack and Transmission

Each Tesla Powerpack has an energy capacity of 210kWh
Using similar connection technology as offshore powerstations, the Powerpack array can connect to the local power grid
All Powerpacks can charge from 0 to 100% with 8-12 hours of a constant microwave supply
Durable Powerpack design supports water resistance and internal coolling, making units independent and easy to maintain
One Powerpack can power 25 average households for a day and can be infinitely stacked with additional Powerpack units

Stats

Energy Capacity: How much electricty can we can deliver?

The ship has 50,000 Powerpacks each rated for 210kWh

Each ship has a maximum energy capacity of 10.5 million kWh

A house running only neccessities needs 1350kWh per year; 3.69kWh per day

Therefore, one ship can support 2.8 million houses, given each home is only using the neccessities. This is only off the maximum storage of the ship. As power is transferred to the grid, the ship will capture more microwave energy and continue to store and supply more power

Sizes: How big is the system?

The satellite has a 1.6km² solar cell array

The rectenna on the Maersk Triple E class ship is 100,000m²

As the conversion from microwaves to electricity is 85-90% efficient, the entire ship can charge in 8-12 hours (varies with temperature and weather conditions)

Cost: How much money is needed to fund this system?

SpaceX offers the cheapest viable launch service at $90 million per launch

A Maersk Triple E class ship costs $185 million USD

Manufacuturing costs for the satellite are around $350-400 million USD

Additional Questions

What risks do the crew of the ship face from the microwaves?

Microwave radiation could be harmful to the crew. Faraday cages using metal mesh will be used to protect the crew from the microwaves.

What are the means of platform propulsion?

Ion engines use xenon gas to position the satellite if micro adjustments are required. The microwave emitter may need to change its angle and this is done using an electric motor and energy from the solar cell array. The ship will run on diesel and will refuel when docked near land.

How do the platforms provide power or connectivity to the ground?

After anchoring, a smaller boat will deploy from the Triple E with the cable to connect to the grid. This will connect to the main grid using a messaging system to ensure the most efficient method of unloading the power is used.

What type of ground infrastructure improvements would be required to connect to these platforms?

As long as the local power grid is functional, this platform can integrate directly into it, requiring no modifications.

How would these platforms achieve the required range or endurance for persistent connectivity?

Geostationary satellite has 42% planetary coverage with a constant power supply, unhindered by atmospheric disturbances. There will be no satellite power supply during nighttime but the ship has enough stored power to keep the supply running until the satellite is able to start transmitting again.

What is the deployment timeline for this system?

One ship can cover the entire east or west coast of the United States in 5 days.

What type of quantitative metrics would indicate success or failure of the system?

If the power supply lasts as long as predicted and does not cut out or fail in between, then it is a success. The goal of this process is to get the essential devices back online. This includes hospital, fire stations, police stations, and other essential needs. While our system likely will not be able to power an entire city, it can cover the areas that need electricity during the recovery process. If the system failed to contribute anything to the recovery effort, then it is a failure.