Investigate how ARLO could use less electrical power while keeping its habitat and equipment at the temperatures they need. Follow the energy and compare three thermal configurations.
ARLO / ACTIVE SHIELDING / CONCEPT RESEARCH
Explore the solar arrays, batteries and cooling needed for an ARLO magnetic-shield concept. Adjust a transparent preliminary power budget.
Explore the research ↓
Sunlight supply
Loads + charging
Eclipse supply
Cold-stage control
FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS · NOT A WIRING DIAGRAM
ILLUSTRATIVE SHIELD-ONLY BUDGET
Change the assumptions. No input here is a measured ARLO specification. Constant load, one repeating orbit and complete recharge in the next sunlight interval are assumed.
Pel = Qc/COP. Pload = Pel + Paux. Sunlight duration ts = torbit − te. Required sunlight power = Pload × [1 + te/(ts × ηcharge × ηdischarge)] × (1 + margin). Area = sunlight power / net EOL output density. Battery nameplate = Pload × te(hours) / (ηdischarge × usable depth) × (1 + margin).
Local warm-loop heat Qhot = Qc + Pel + Paux. Emitting radiator area = Qhot × (1 + margin) / [εσ(Trad⁴ − Tsink⁴)], with σ = 5.670374419 × 10⁻⁸ W m⁻² K⁻⁴. Auxiliaries are assumed to reject all their power into this loop. Battery losses, initial cooldown, magnet charging, emergency dumps and the rest of the station are excluded.
Output density includes the direct solar-to-load conversion path; battery efficiencies add only the storage path. Margin is applied separately to solar, battery and radiator capacities; it is not an additional operating load. End-of-life battery degradation beyond the chosen usable capacity must be supplied by a separate battery model.
Our proposed chain is solar arrays → regulated distribution → cooler and controls, with a bidirectional battery path for eclipse. A separate controlled supply energizes the magnet. Passive insulation and sunshades reduce cold-stage heat leak before electrical equipment is sized. This is an architecture to evaluate, not a selected flight system.
A suitable superconducting circuit may carry current with very low resistive loss, but persistent operation cannot be assumed for an unspecified conductor, joint and switch design. Current leads, joints, trim circuits and power electronics may add losses. Enter their cold-stage contributions in cold heat and their warm electrical contributions in auxiliary load, without double counting.
Arrays must serve daytime loads and restore the energy withdrawn in eclipse, including charging and discharging losses. Use net usable end-of-life output per deployed panel area, after temperature, radiation degradation, pointing, packing and distribution losses. The example value is an assumption, not a supplier rating. This tool sizes only the shield allocation; station life support, payloads and propulsion are excluded.
The default case assumes 40 W cold-stage heat and a cooler coefficient of performance of 0.02, giving 2 kW cooler electricity. Adding 300 W auxiliaries gives a continuous 2.3 kW load. These are deliberately adjustable study inputs; they have not been derived from ARLO coil geometry. A real coil may require substantially more or less power.
Freeze coil current, conductor and temperature margins; compute heat leaks and obtain a cooler performance map. Then close an orbit-resolved load and recharge model, battery cycle-life assessment, array pointing and shadowing analysis, packaging, redundancy and structural interactions. The calculator is an energy-balance screen, not a procurement specification.
External work informs the study; it does not validate ARLO. Review date: 24 October 2026. Source access depth is stated below.
Architecture, structural loads, quench protection and cooling; report summary reviewed.
Preliminary magnetic habitat concept; abstract reviewed, not flight validation.
Modeling preprint; revised strong-field performance. Abstract reviewed.
Orbit-specific environment reference; presentation.
Engineering context for coatings, heat rejection and environment.
Physical debris protection remains a separate system.
Solar generation, eclipse storage and end-of-life considerations; overview reviewed.
FOLLOW THE DESIGN
We are defining a research scope for radiation transport, superconducting engineering and optical-material testing. No shield is offered for sale or operational use.
Discuss a technical contribution ↗Return to ARLO ↗