5 ms·
All will be heat after X amount of time. Where the X can be a few seconds or decades or centuries. The more interesting thing would be the light reflected by t
by mallets 2y ago
All will be heat after X amount of time. Where the X can be a few seconds or decades or centuries.
The more interesting thing would be the light reflected by the panels (albedo factor). This could be lower or higher than the surface these panels are placed on.
- pfdietz 2y agoAlso, the emittance of the panels at thermal wavelengths is important. What you want is a panel that converts wavelengths shorter than the bandgap cutoff at high efficiency, reflects near and mid IR at longer wavelengths, but has high emissivity in the far IR at wavelengths where the atmosphere isn't too opaque.
- mallets 2y agoNot like optimising for this make much sense when we haven't even covered 1% of land yet. Maybe our great-great-great-great grandkids can think on it, will be so disappointed if they haven't mastered terraforming yet.
- BatFastard 2y agoCould you convert electricity into a infrared laser and beam the energy into space?
- pfdietz 2y agoA laser beam carries no entropy, so I don't see the point of this. Using a laser beam to dissipate heat is one of those classic hard science fiction bloopers. David Brin is one guilty party (in "Sundiver").
- Qwertious 2y agoYou can skip the solar panel entirely and just lay out mirrors, or just spray the ground with white paint.