#8: Ben Nowack - Selling Sunlight to Solar Farms After Dark
First Principles with Christian Keil · Christian Keil
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Show Notes
Episode 8: Ben Nowack built a fusion reactor in high school. Now he’s building huge mirrors in space that reflect sunlight onto solar farms at night.
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(00:00) - Intro
(00:39) - What Reflect Orbital is Building
(02:30) - How the Satellite Mirrors Work
(06:16) - Deploying the Mirrors in Space
(10:14) - Mirror Size Considerations
(13:51) - Dealing with Space Debris and Micrometeorites
(17:07) - Early Demonstrations with High Altitude Balloons
(23:11) - Advantages over Other Space Solar Concepts
(28:56) - Target Customers and Business Model
(35:57) - Constellation Size and Orbit Design
(40:42) - Using Solar Sailing for Propulsion
(49:38) - Benefits of Solar Sailing for Space Exploration
(54:06) - Tiny Force of Solar Sailing and Payload Limitations
(55:58) - Maintaining Altitude vs Pointing at Solar Farms
(59:14) - Attitude Control with Control Moment Gyros
(01:02:44) - Desaturating Control Moment Gyros
(01:05:21) - Monte Carlo Simulations for Constellation Design
(01:11:00) - Monte Carlo Simulation 101
(01:13:38) - Exciting Developments in Solar and Energy
(01:22:17) - Sunlight as a Service Business Model
(01:24:04) - Wrap Up and How to Learn More
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Links:
- Christian Keil: https://twitter.com/pronounced_kyle
- Ben Nowack: https://twitter.com/bennbuilds
- Reflect Orbital: https://www.reflectorbital.com/
First Principles:
- Reflectance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflectance
- Solar power: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/135642main_balance_trifold21.pdf
- Radiation pressure for solar sailing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pressure#:~:text=The%20assertion%20that%20light%2C%20as,and%20Gordon%20Ferrie%20Hull%20in
- CMG “control moment gyroscope“: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_moment_gyroscope
- Monte Carlo simulation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo_method
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