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Disambiguation. The first part of the question title is about implementation, the second about activation. Implemented doesn't fit for the second part, unless it's talking about a plan, but it's talking about a system, and further it already asked about the implementation.
@Uwe Correct, and the space station skin is surely a magnitude of order more thick than aluminum foil, and I also didn't include all the rest of the structure which is even heavier gauge aluminum. I didn't bother to consider it in more detail because even if the station was made of aluminum foil and nothing else, it would be fine. If a more detailed analysis is required, consider submitting a new question.
@WillCrawford No, the batteries are charged and discharged with each pass when the orbit leaves the station with no solar power. I used worst case calculations, but neither the solar panels nor the batteries will ever see 1,200A in normal usage.
And that's considering just the one outermost shell, and that's less than half the thickness of even thin aluminum foils (range between 0.0008" and 0.001"), which is far less than what the shell of the space station is made of. There's a lot more aluminum in a lot more layers and framework, and aluminum is a good conductor. They don't use it for power return, but if they did, and even if they put the full capacity of the batteries across the entire length of the structure, any gradient would be very, very small.
@J.Doe The ISS does NOT use the frame as a power return path. It is ground, yes, but all electric loads have a power supply and a power return wire correctly sized to handle the load supplied. But let's say that it used the frame as power return: The ISS has a maximum bus voltage of 160V, and a regulated bus of 124V. The solar panels can produce a maximum of 120kW, and the batteries 158kW. At 124V that's just north of 1,250A. Aluminum can carry 700A per square inch of cross section. At 14 feet diameter, 2 square inches of aluminum cross section would only require 0.000316" thick aluminum.
@MarsJarsGuitars-n-Chars I've addressed the radiation exposure in the answer. I didn't address it earlier as it really isn't the most likely cause of death of a person in that situation, but it's too long to add as a comment. Hopefully this addresses your point!
@djsmiley2k You won't get convection heat transfer, only radiative, which depends largely on the emissivity of the material surrounding starman, and how much time they are facing away from the sun vs towards the sun.
