Value chain · CLM-1196
In plain terms
A separate, very light mirror flies beside each array and turns slowly, once a year, so the solar cells always see the Sun; for the first project it is about twice the area of the array, but the design does not count it as concentrating the light.
The claim as recorded
Each Lucidus array has "a co-orbiting modular gossamer mirror adjacent to each array" that keeps the solar collectors in continuous sunlight "by rotating about the array's normal axis once per year"; for Project #1 Table 1 gives the reflector area as 1,397,425 m2 against 734,098 m2 of PV, and a PV concentration factor of 1.00.
Scope and limits
THE VENDOR'S OWN FIGURES. SRC-013 is Virtus Solis's survey of its competitors and itself (T4), and states "Data associated with the Virtus Solis system was internally generated" (PDF 2). No held source checks them independently; SRC-076 Table 1 (PDF 12) repeats only the 31% solar cell efficiency, from manufacturers' claimed values (PDF 11), and gives no mirror figures. The mirror's shape, distance from the array and station-keeping are not given. Own arithmetic: 1,397,425 / 734,098 = 1.90. With a concentration factor of 1.00 the mirror's stated role is to keep the array lit, not to concentrate.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
PDF 7: "A co-orbiting modular gossamer mirror adjacent to each array ensures that the satellite's solar collectors receive sunlight continuously by rotating about the array's normal axis once per year." PDF 9, Table 1 at render, Project #1: "Area of Reflector" "m^2" "1,397,425"; "Area of PV" "734,098"; "Generation Type" "Simple PV"; "PV Concentration Factor" "1.00"; "Photovoltaic Efficiency" "31%".
Basis: reflector area in m2; mirror rotation period (once a year)
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-1196
CLM-1196, Energy Aperture, as of 2024.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-013
- CLM-0187The company's own 2024 analysis estimates that a single, non-reused Starship launch to low orbit would cost about $665 per kilogram, and...CLM-0532A different space-solar-power company's own 2024 analysis estimates that a single non-reused Starship launch to low orbit would cost about...CLM-0667One company's design deliberately avoids the standard high orbit used by other designs, because it believes waiting for compatibility with...CLM-0668The same company's own numbers show that, using the identical rocket and the identical (chemical) engine type throughout, simply choosing a...CLM-1194The company's first planned project is sized at 200 MW to the grid from a 732-tonne satellite, running nine-tenths of the time over a...CLM-1195The design builds one thin, nearly kilometre-wide disc out of many metre-sized flat satellites, each with solar cells on one side and radio...CLM-1197The company beams at 10 GHz and claims its beam loses nothing in space on the way down, where the other designs in its own table lose...CLM-1198The first project's receiving site is a circle 2 km across, with two hours of batteries on the ground.More on the source page.