I didn't go to University, and wasn't much for science in high-school, but (using your figures) sunlight is 1000watts/m^2/second (or millisecond or minute), isn't it?
If so, aren't your concerns about the size of the mirror, etc. imposing a limitation, kinda like saying we can build a jet that will fly from NYC to San Fran in 30 seconds, but we can't keep the people in one piece during the trip. Therefore, we slow it down to a more humanly acceptable speed. With the volume of sunlight hitting the planet, would we not be able to take only a portion of that sunlight and concentrate it over time to get the same effect??
Of course, like an airplane, you need a minimum speed to create lift, and this magnetic effect may have such a limiting speed/force(?).
Of course, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but you seem quite knowledgable.
watts is a measure of power. The often confused "kilowatt hour" is a measure of energy and would indeed need the time "/second" (or other time unit) added. But I am working in power here.
would we not be able to take only a portion of that sunlight and concentrate it over time to get the same effect
Yes! We went the same way here. I replied to the parent comment with a description of a temporal light concentrator.
I've never heard of such a device, maybe people that know the name of them can order them from a catalog, but it is an intriguing solution because it solves the "massive collector" problem as well as the "holy sh*t! what am I going to do with all this waste heat!" problem.
It's also possible that people more comfortable with light as a wave spit coffee out of their nose and had a good laugh when they read it.
I didn't go to University, and wasn't much for science in high-school, but (using your figures) sunlight is 1000watts/m^2/second (or millisecond or minute), isn't it?
No, sunlight is 1000 watts / m^2, or 1000 joules per square metre per second. The Watt is a unit of power (ie energy over time).
As a footnote, there is a pitfall here in the English language.
The word "over" might mean divided by, or it might mean "integrated across", which are, in the case of constant power completely opposite meanings.
power is energy ÷ time (assuming the power is constant, and thinking of horizontal lines for fractions you might say "power is energy over time")
energy is power × time (assuming the power is constant, but if you are thinking "integration" you might say "energy is power over time")
I didn't go to University, and wasn't much for science in high-school, but (using your figures) sunlight is 1000watts/m^2/second (or millisecond or minute), isn't it?
If so, aren't your concerns about the size of the mirror, etc. imposing a limitation, kinda like saying we can build a jet that will fly from NYC to San Fran in 30 seconds, but we can't keep the people in one piece during the trip. Therefore, we slow it down to a more humanly acceptable speed. With the volume of sunlight hitting the planet, would we not be able to take only a portion of that sunlight and concentrate it over time to get the same effect??
Of course, like an airplane, you need a minimum speed to create lift, and this magnetic effect may have such a limiting speed/force(?).
Of course, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but you seem quite knowledgable.