The ultimate solar home has to be the International Space Station: three hundred and seventy five square meters of solar cell goodness, providing thirty kilowatts of sweet solar energy to run one of the most amazing feats ever assembled by man. Of course it’s not all cherry, in space maintenance is a bit tricky, and the commute to work takes ages.
One person who knows of both trials is astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, who had an unusual accident while working to repair the station’s right solar wing. The solar wings have motors which move them to point at the sun, ensuring maximum energy absorption. Or rather they usually do, one joint on the wing jammed, locking the panels in place and cutting down on the power production.
While fixing the problem, Heidemarie was distracted by an exploding grease-gun and put her toolbag down for a moment. Except, of course, in space there is no real “down” and the untethered toolbag promptly floated off into the great black yonder. There are a few reasons this isn’t a serious problem for Earth-bound panels:
1) Earth panels don’t usually move to track the sun – except in special systems, the energy cost of moving the panels against gravity is more than you’d gain.
2) Toolbags on Earth don’t usually float off into space. If you’ve got a toolbag that can do that, please contact a scientist immediately.
3) Regular toolbags don’t cost a hundred thousand dollars.
Yes, the escaped equipment cost a whopping hundred grand, the bag being full of customized NASA-grade goodies. Don’t be expecting a free astronaut baggie to be dropping in from above though, the small package will burn up harmlessly on re-entry. The mission continued with no other problems, and the astronauts now await tests which will tell them if they’re back to full power.