Volunteerism vs. Rewards for Space Settlement (Was R

fred
I agree with your calculations but let me do some
minor speculation on them
1-first attemp
reduce needs
if by utilizing advanced technology you can reduce the
car weight of 25% you would need only 30Hp and
consequently that means a 7.5 sqmt collector
still not feasible too big
the contraptions that are solar powered and
participate to the australian solar car race are based
on a low hp and maximum use of solar cells
2-second attemp
increase cell efficiency
at the moment with existig technology efficiecy of
solar cells is very low around 10% RANGE if more
advanced technology we could increase such efficiency
to say 30%, we would need only 2.5sqmt of solar
collectors
within the car size
more increases in efficiency means more reduction of
solar collector dimensions
we are getting there
of course if it rains we would be pushing the car with
one arm and with the other we would hold the umbrella
attemp impracticable
But I never mentioned solar collectors in a car
actually
You did
3-third attemp
the car in reality is part of a personal
transportation system composed of roads, parking
areas, tolls, refueling stations, maintenanace
organizations, emergency medical aid for accidents and
many others.
We have today vehicles that run by electrical non
polluting motors, the trolleybuses.
They need a power line and such an alternative even if
feasible, may prove highly impractical for cars.
So one alternative could be to bury the power line a
few cms under the road pavement and supply the cars
with a energy sensor in the lower part that would
remotely receive the needed energy from the power
line.The power line can receive the power from
stations along the road similar to the train line
situation.
Impractical?
maybe but if we all agree that we can transfer with a
new untested technology, economically and technically
feasible, terawatts of energy from the Moon at
360000kms to earth, we may also assume that we could
develop a technology that would allow us to tranfer a
few KW for 30 or 40 cms on paved roads
Recent progress in wireless technology may give us a
possibility.
In this case when it rains we don't have to push the
car
what about dirt roads?
same technology as the existing at least for now till
a reallly workable power generating system on the car,
could be developed.
There are proposals to fly airplanes by microwave
transfer fro m same for cars and for a few cms.
Please send me comments but with PMA.
Positive mental Attitude

> Another research is needed to reduce energy
> compsumption of all our appliances and equipments
back
> to cars from the existing 20mpg SUVs etc to the
> existing VW Lupo 60mpg to the future over 100mpg
cars
> if we will still be using traditional engines
> aviation industry can do it why auto industry can't?

You're talking about orders and orders and orders of
magnitude difference,
here, between a milliwatt calculator and a car.
Here's some napkin
calculations:

One horsepower is about 745 watts.

In order to run a car on modern roads, you're going to
need at least 40
horsepower. This works out to about 30 kilowatts. If
you use the car a half
hour a day (impossible in most American cities, but
let's be generous) that
means you'll need about 15 kWh of power for bare
minimum transportation needs.

Since generating 1kWh in an hour takes about five
square meters of solar
collector, during an eight-hour collecting day, you're
going to need a roughly
ten meter square solar collector. The panel will cost
you something like ten
thousand dollars, and even covering every square meter
of the car's surface,
it won't be big enough.

Now if you get your power off the lines, instead,
taking advantage of
economies of scale, you'll spend less money, the power
will be more reliable,
and you won't be rendered immobile if there's a
hailstorm.