An Introduction to the Caltech Space Solar Power Project.

The Caltech Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) is developing the capability to deliver reliable, clean, energy from orbit to the surface of the Earth. The vision is for photovoltaic arrays in geostationary orbit to collect sunlight which is converted into radio and then beamed to a ground station which will turn the radio into high-voltage DC to be sold on the grid. This talk will focus on approaching SSPP as an order-of-magnitude physics problem, and from that perspective I will discuss issues such as array size, weight restrictions, radio frequency choice, energy payback time, and more. I will also share some of our ongoing efforts towards prototyping solar cells capable of powering SSPP, including soon-to-begin testing on the ISS.

Phil Jahelka ('14) is a staff scientist in the Atwater group at Caltech where he is developing lightweight, low-cost, radiation hard solar cells for the Caltech Space Solar Power Project (SSPP). He participates in all levels of device development including material selection, device design, simulation, fabrication, characterization, and cost modeling. He also led the effort in delivering solar cells to the ISS for testing lightweight radiation shielding as part of MISSE-21. Outside of research, Phil enjoys running, reading, and GM'ing Pathfinder.