Possible alternative way to generate electricity in space?

Currently I didn't have in mind to install a generator like that in my idea at a space staion or the like. I only had in mind a generator in space. The electricity generated by it could be beamed to stations, spacecrafts ...



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

Ekkehard,
Wiith respect to your earlier post, and in addition to ErimM's excellent post,

Sure, I suppose theoretically it would be nice if the other side rotated the opposate way (greater differential RPM's). Unfortunately, there are forces (be it frictional if contact is made, or interactions between the current's B & E field and the permanent magnets, that would start the other half rotating. Unfortunately, perpetual motion machines seem quite impossible.

I didn't have in mind something like a perpetuum mobile - there may be a misunderstanding.

I may be wrong and clearly there may be connections amd links of technical or physical kind included I don't know of. These should be looked for and perhaps ways and methods could be found to get rid of them.

To turn again to the rotation and counterrotation I have been thinking of permanently impulse from sunlight upon two solar sails. As far as I know sunlight can effect only one side of a solar sail or it is possible at least to construct a solar sail that can be set to motion only by impacting one side. I currently have no clarifying drawing or graphic - my thought could be described as a spehre with a horizontal axis and a construction going from one end of the horizontal axis to the other around the sphere with no touch to it (permanent magnets at the ends of the axis and the construction). The sphere has asolar sail the impactable sidie of is faced to the sun when the sail is above the horizontal axis where as the construction has a solar sail the impactable side of is faced to the sun when it is below the horizontal axis. In this case the solar sails should be pushed to opposite directions and the sphere would rotate to the opposite direction the construction is rotating to because both sails would get impulse by the sunlight but at opposites sides of the horizontal axis. To keep both the sphere and the construction rotating there could be more sails as a turbin has what is called in German "Blätter" ("blades" or "wings" in English? Has a turbin wings or has it blades?). Then the sunlight would keep the sphere and the construction rotating to opposite directions.

I didn't want to oppone to erikm or others - my last post only was menat to clarify that I didn't have in mind a station but a generator only.

Concerning the staor and the rotor a question came up to me. I know that the stair is fixed and non-mocing and the rotor is moving - the names say that explicitly. On Earth things are fixed by establishing a non-removebale connection to ground, walls and the like. This prevents things from moving or being moved. This can be done directly or indirectly and this way a stator is well-defined. Things that should be moveable etc. are not installed that way but there moveability can be restricted. One possibility is restriction to rotation - a rotor is well-defined this way. But this seems to be relative if looked upon from space. The stator is fixed relative to Earth or to walls etc.- but it is not fixed relative to sun etc which means that the staor is rotating around Earth's axis. Is the staor something called "Spule" in German? Is it a wire drilled to a spiral? If yes then it looks to me that there is no difference between a fixed stator with a rotating magnet in it and a rotating "stator" which is rotating by half the velocity the magnet would be rotating in the fixed-stator case and the magnet rotating by halv that velocity too. It seems to be relative.

Is there an erro or a mistake in that imagination? If yes where is it? What has to be corrected?



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

To complete it a little bit only:

One part of the generator could be kept non-rotating perhaps if it has two solar sails at opposite sides of the axis between them the part otherwise would be rotating around. Thos side of both these sails that can be impacted by light should point to the sun - please remark: both sides should do that at the first time. This should prevent rotation of that part. Are solar sails able to work like that?

I could imagine to instal one part inside the asteroid or artifial object. It would require to provide a cave inside and a real axis going through this cave. Then both the stator and the rotator would be inside the asteroid/object but the solar sails could be outside the asteroid/object.

This post is not menat to argue physically - it's a description of alternative "architecture" only.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

In between I am thinking about this concerning the solar wind instead of sunlight.

During the first step the solar particles simply would replace the sunlight. But it would be more interesting to involve the difference between protons and electrons regarding charge.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

Just this moment I remeber an information which might point to another possibe way.

During the Kosovo war the US army used bombs which didn't destroy no houses etc. but simply emitted special radiation to the direction of nearby transformer stations. This caused an excess of the transformation capacity and the wires etc. melted and thus the elctricity infrastructrure was interrupted.

Would it be possible to use that part of the spectrum of the cosmic radiation in trnasformer stations in space? ...
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Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

Zero Point Energy, enuff said.

Hello, koxinga,

zero point energy? I wasn't thinking of that - do you consider it as an obstacle?



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

See Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-point_energy

Like everything associated with quantum physics, generating a practical use for it is altogether another matter. That, and possible how to utilise the Casimir effect for a one way trip would be the breakthoughs needed to cast away the bonds of our solar system!

The effect has less 'thrust' that the weight of a sheet of paper on your hand. Give up the sci-fi and support rockets--not fantasy.

There's the good, old, caustic "do-not-take-internally" publiusr.

But yeah, quantum physics (as currently known) is basically inapplicable to our (movement of a large mass) problems.

Its all in good fun. I'll be happy if we could solve the current problems (of getting into orbit) using what is available versus what is hypothetical (and leaving the solar system)and leave it to the physicists.

Its also good to leave it up to the Dept. Of Energy:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-05i.html

Just remember, the libertarian-conservatives wanted to shut DoE down.

That's because DOE isn't uselessly terrified of nuclear power. They know enough to know how to use it safely.

Thats more of a green concern. Public works and organizations like DoE and other Dept.s have been on the 'to-cut' lists of the GOP for years.

Off topic. You might remember that episode of COSMOS recently talking about how Holland pursued exploration with gov't/private ventures.

They were a far-thinking people then. Exploration has fallen out of favor with the right as 'wasteful' and with the left as 'exploitative."

And now all that comes out of Holland is porn.