Value chain · CLM-0214
In plain terms
Six different solar-power-satellite designs each claim that turning the electricity collected on the ground into grid-ready power is 90 to 99% efficient, but nobody has independently checked these numbers.
The claim as recorded
Across six compared SBSP reference designs (NASA RD1, NASA RD2, Thales Alenia Space ESA, Space Solar large-scale, Virtus Solis P1, Space Solar small-scale), the "convert and deliver" ground-side conversion efficiency - the stage from rectenna DC output through to grid-ready power - is claimed at 90%, 90%, 94%, 95%, 99% and 95% respectively.
Scope and limits
These are CLAIMED, unverified figures, not measured or independently audited results, and are a separate pipeline stage from the "rectenna collection/reception efficiency" figures on the same table (64% to 92% across the same six designs) - the two must not be conflated into a single ground-conversion number.
What it assumes
Each manufacturer's own definition of "conversion efficiency" is comparable across designs; the report itself notes definitions vary (e.g. footnote 8 on rectenna efficiency), so this comparability should not be assumed without caution.
Where it comes from
p.12, Table 1, row "Conversion efficiency" under stage "Convert and deliver": values 90%, 90%, 94%, 95%, 99%, 95% for the six designs in column order. p.11: "Table 1 presents a comparison of these systems, based on manufacturers' claimed values (not independently verified by Frazer-Nash)." Confirmed verbatim against the PDF text layer.
Basis: Manufacturer-claimed values across six SBSP reference designs, not independently verified by the report's authors
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-002 not published in this release
- Contradicts
- CLM-0784 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0214
CLM-0214, Energy Aperture, as of 2025.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-076
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