Experimental Study of Space Solar Power System Using an Electrical Functional Model

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In order to study the engineering problems of Space Solar Power System, an electrical functional model which simulates the system has been developed for ground testing. The model includes solar cell arrays and a microwave power transmitter which are integrated on a 1/150 scale model of a solar power satellite model SPS 2000. SPS2000 has the shape of a triangular prism with a length of 300 m each side and transmits 10 MW microwave power from space to ground. Totally 32 solar cell modules were assembled on the two sides of a triangular prism structure which generated a 300 W power under the sunlight. Since the SPS 2000 is controlled by the gravity gradient force to keep the transmitter antenna facing the ground with no gimbal mechanism, the generated power varies with time by the change of sun angle. In order to study the time-varying power profile, the power generation was measured by changing the solar angle to the model. It was found that the observation agrees with the model calculation within a 20-30% deviation. As a new type of active antenna for this model, a compact type of transmitting element which contains microwave circuits and a transmitting antenna integrated into a multi-layer structure has been developed jointly with researchers of Tokai University, The antenna cell has a stratified structure consisting of an injection and amplification layer, a coupling layer, and a radiation layer. The performance has been demonstrated by a two-dimensional active integrated amplifier antenna array cascading the cells in two directions using directional couplers and FFT amplifiers. We received several requests from foreign researchers to provide information how to build the electrical functional model as an educational purpose. Responding to the requests, we have generated a report of this model to be used as an production manual which will contribute spreading scientific knowledge of Space Solar Power System to public.