Exploitation of high altitude solar energy

Based on real atmospheric data, this paper investigates and quantifies the intensity of solar energy available in the high atmosphere, as a first step to assess the viability of a device to collect this energy and make it available as electricity for users on the ground. In this context it is shown that PV devices supported by a high altitude aerostatic platform could produce over 4 times the energy produced by typical UK ground based PV system. The energy collected on board the aerostatic platform is then transmitted to the ground as electricity using the platform mooring cable. Based on realistic values of the relevant engineering parameters a preliminary sizing of the facility is presented and its cost including advantages and disadvantages of this technology are briefly discussed.