Author Topic: Dyson–Harrop satellite  (Read 1989 times)

Offline Neon

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Dyson–Harrop satellite
« on: 04/24/2018 10:22 am »
Hello, just registered at the forum. I need some feedback.

"Dyson–Harrop satellites" is a concept to harness energy from the solar wind.

Here are some descriptions of it:

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/sokolowsky2/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19497-out-of-this-world-proposal-for-solar-wind-power/

Now my problems are the following:

1. It seems that it has nothing to do with Freeman Dyson, so why did they put his name on it?

2. The density of the solar wind at 1 AU is 5 particles per cm3 and their velocity on average about 500 km/s. I calculate an energy flux in the order of nano Watts /m2. So how can a relative small devise as described in the links yield Megawatts of energy?

3. "A satellite with the same-sized receiver at the same distance from the sun but with a 1-kilometre-long wire and a sail 8400 kilometers wide could generate roughly 1 billion billion gigawatts (10^27 watts) of power, “which is actually 100 billion times the power humanity currently requires”, says researcher Brooks Harrop, a physicist at Washington State University in Pullman who designed the satellite." That's about 3 times more than the entire energy output of the sun. See my problem?

Any thoughts on that?

« Last Edit: 04/24/2018 10:24 am by Neon »

Offline BeyondNERVA

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Re: Dyson–Harrop satellite
« Reply #1 on: 04/29/2018 02:19 pm »
I know the first one... the last two sound like really massaged numbers.

Dyson is mentioned because the concept can be called a "low visibility Dyson sphere," where most of the visible light is let through. The context I saw this in was with the Fermi Paradox, as a potential solution. It isn't of course, youre messing with your IR spectrum still, but it WOULD be slightly harder.

Offline as58

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Re: Dyson–Harrop satellite
« Reply #2 on: 04/30/2018 06:13 am »
Hello, just registered at the forum. I need some feedback.

"Dyson–Harrop satellites" is a concept to harness energy from the solar wind.

Here are some descriptions of it:

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/sokolowsky2/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19497-out-of-this-world-proposal-for-solar-wind-power/

3. "A satellite with the same-sized receiver at the same distance from the sun but with a 1-kilometre-long wire and a sail 8400 kilometers wide could generate roughly 1 billion billion gigawatts (10^27 watts) of power, “which is actually 100 billion times the power humanity currently requires”, says researcher Brooks Harrop, a physicist at Washington State University in Pullman who designed the satellite." That's about 3 times more than the entire energy output of the sun. See my problem?

Any thoughts on that?

As you said, 10^27 W is more than the entire energy output of the Sun, so there's indeed a huge problem in Harrop's numbers (and it definitely doesn't look good for the whole concept that it's inventor fails to see such an obvious error). I have a very faint memory that this concept was discussed in some thread here years ago.
« Last Edit: 04/30/2018 06:14 am by as58 »

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