alt Hacker News> Higher temperature operation sheds heat energy via radiation much faster.
Isn't this what heat pumps are for? Then you can run the radiators at higher temperatures without needing to run the electronics at those temperatures.
Replies
adrianN • today at 8:46 AM
Heat pumps gain efficiency if the temperature gradient they have to maintain decreases.
This is a kind of nasty tradeoff in space. You can dissipate entropy per unit time from the same radiating area if you use a heat pump, but the heat pump itself uses power even if it’s perfect and operates at the Carnot limit, so you need a larger solar array.
There’s probably an optimum that involves a heat pump, but I don’t think it’s vastly better than not using a heat pump, and it’s certainly heavier and more complex.