Rectenna vs photovoltaic mass/power ratio?

On 9/29/05, dsw_s wrote:
>
> I was just wondering about the feasibility of using energy collected
> at one location in space to power equipment in another location, via
> the same kind of rectenna set-up proposed for getting energy to earth
> from space. It increases the complexity of the overall system, but if
> the rectenna has a lower mass to power ratio it might be worthwhile
> for systems going to high-delta-vee locations.

It's probably quite feasible. The biggest downside is that if you do it from
any distance the rectenna would need to be pretty big. But the power you can
transfer per kilogram could be enormous (megawatts?), although there are
cooling issues that would need to be looked at quite carefully, but a dump
cooling scheme might work fine for short timescale operation.

Probably a fantastic idea for VASIMR type drives I would have thought.

-Ian Woollard