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Power Generation
Alex Reeser edited this page Mar 22, 2017
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Because Mars has no oxygen in the atmosphere, has no known deposits of hydrocarbons, has no flowing water of any appreciable amount, has no wind, and is further away from Sol than Earth, it is much harder to generate power by conventional means. This page catalogs potential energy sources, primarily nuclear and solar.
| Type | Efficiency | kWh a day |
|---|---|---|
| Tri-J Ga-As | 38% | .58 |
| Monocrystalline Si | 22% | .34 |
| Polycrystalline Si | 16% | .24 |
| Amorphous Si | 14% | .21 |
| Type | Fuel | Fuel Mass | Service Life | kWe | kWt | Assembly Mass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNAP-10A | UO2 | 12kg | 1y | .5 | 30 | 950kg |
| BES-5 | U-235 | 30kg | 1y | 3 | 100 | 385kg |
| TOPAZ | UO2 | 12kg | 3y | 7.5 | 150 | 320kg |
| SAFE | UO2 | 4-11.5kg* | ? | 100 | 400 | 512kg |
* Unable to find strong source on mass of fuel
Lower bound via presentation
1.59 cm diameter pin => 2.1 cubic cm per pin * UO2 density of 10.15 g/cm3 * 191 pins = 4071.165 g
Upper bound via article assumes same diameter pins
1.59 cm diameter pin => 2.1 cubic cm per pin * UN density of 14.3 g/cm3 * 381 pins = 11441.43 g
| Type | Fuel | Fuel Mass | Service Life | We | Wt | Assembly Mass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMRTG | PuO2 | 4.8kg | 14y | 110 | 45kg | |
| ASRG | PuO2 | 1.2kg | 14y | 130 | 32kg | |
| MHW-RTG | Pu-238 | 4.5kg | 88y | 157 | 38kg |