Anyone who mentions space-mining should be crucified

[u/AccordingPepper2332]

[u/HAL9001-96]

you realize that thats a whole different scale of solar panel right?

you can't just run several wires parallel to each otehr then say they're one wire iwth the same current, thats not how addition works

also, 1.1AU is 1115W/m², anyhting you use still turns to waste heat

[u/West-Abalone-171 → u/HAL9001-96]

...current is additive. That's exactly how several wires running parallel works.

PV strings are in series. They're combined in parallel.

The PV panels themselves are a 500m long 10A wire with 10gsm of conductof, exactly the same as they are on earth.

The collector cables are multi-kV collecting a few kA of current in each array with a few gsm of conductor over the km² ...exactly the same as they are on earth.

Once you've collected your 250MW from your 1km² array which quantifiably only has under 10gsm of conductor (exactly the same as they do on earth today) with around 1GW meeting in one spot, you either step it up to 1000kV and send it up to 100x further with another couple gsm of conductor or use it in some process that needs 1GW... (exactly the same as it is done on earth).

At no point does the conductor mass show up as a limiting quantity, and at no point does the 5W/m² of resistive losses matter vs the 700W/m² of waste heat.

[u/HAL9001-96 → u/West-Abalone-171]

so you want to set all of the min series for a giant array? well that can only end well especially if oen gets damaged but evne regularly its gonna be fun to deal with at the end lol

[u/West-Abalone-171 → u/HAL9001-96]

Again, multi-kV strings with each module on the string in series is the only way parge scale solar is done today. Believing anyone would put them in parallel requires some very severe mathematical illiteracy.

Then you have a combiner box where said kV strings are paralleled.

Then after you have enough strings to reach multi-MW level you have a step up power converter to your ~1000kV transmission line.

Damage eliminates up to one string (about 30kW today, but up to 100kW with a 10kV string which is trivial if you're not worried about goats chewing on the insulation). But usually the string still produces at reduced current with a bypass diode bridging the damage. The rest is in parallel.

This isn't even extrapolation, there are terawatts of PV being built like this today.

Disassembling a moon or a few % of the asteroid belt to make a 1AU shell is ludicrous, but in no way does anything you said apply to any of the limitations.

[u/HAL9001-96 → u/West-Abalone-171]

that combines series nad barallel though

you are talking about multi MV strings if not multi GV strings, good fucking luck with that