Installing solar panels in space means you can collect the sun's rays no matter the weather. And supporters say the solar panels could provide power to remote areas of the world that may not have infrastructure.
Technology is advancing:
Why did we write this?
Space-based solar panels have the potential to bring electrical power to remote areas or areas affected by natural disasters. Private companies and other companies Work is being done to improve this technology.
British startup Space Solar aims to provide enough solar power for around 3,000 homes by 2030.
A California startup says it will launch a constellation of orbiting mirrors by 2025 to extend sunlight to solar panels on Earth.
And last year A prototype from the California Institute of Technology captures energy returned from space for the first time. China and Japan plan to follow suit by 2028 and 2025, respectively.
Energy captured in space is converted into radio waves. (or laser) and send the signal to a receiving station on Earth for conversion into electricity. Or the hardware will act as a giant mirror. Reflecting the sun's rays onto solar panels on the planet's surface before the sun hits it directly in the morning or deep in the twilight.
Cost is a barrier: A recent NASA report found that solar power in space can be 12 to 80 times more expensive than terrestrial alternatives, but the latest test flight of SpaceX's Starship shows that costs can be lowered.
Imagine a vast array of solar panels. Arranged in rows across an area of nearly a square mile. Now shift that image to outer space. It is a giant structure tens of thousands of miles from the Earth's surface. And you can get a feel for what space solar energy is trying to achieve.
Driving this energy source is not only due to its advantages over land-based solar energy. But it also comes from the characteristics that make this energy source different from most other energy sources.
Proponents say it can help power various parts. of the world trying to access more traditional forms of energy It may be because of the remote area. or because there is no relevant infrastructure
Why did we write this?
Space-based solar panels have the potential to bring electrical power to remote areas or areas affected by natural disasters. Private companies and other companies Work is being done to improve this technology.
“Solar, fusion, nuclear, coal, etc., you have to have a plant somewhere and provide the infrastructure to support it,” said Paul Jaffe, a former electronics engineer at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. You have the potential to redirect power from satellites to anywhere on Earth.”
Technology is advancing
In a sign that technology is moving beyond the boundaries of science fiction, British startup Space Solar It recently penned a world-first partnership with an Icelandic energy company to supply solar power from space by 2030, imagining that satellites would be enough to power about 3,000 homes.
Space Solar also went one step further by being the first to demonstrate 360-degree beaming technology, which means the solar panels can send energy back to Earth. Regardless, they rotate to face the sun.
Meanwhile A California startup says it will launch a constellation of orbiting mirrors by 2025 to extend available sunlight to solar panels on Earth.
And last year A prototype from the California Institute of Technology collects solar energy in space and beams it back in detectable amounts for the first time. China and Japan plan to follow suit by 2028 and 2025, respectively.
“I'm really optimistic,” said Martin Soltau, co-CEO and co-founder of Space Solar. “There are much more complex robots in space now, like the Mars rover. We don't need anything that complicated.”
The idea of space solar power is to harvest energy from the sun far beyond the diversity of Earth's weather systems. And it is so high that the solar panels' view of the sun is almost never blocked.
The energy captured by these solar panels is converted into radio waves. (or in some cases, a laser) and beam it to a receiving station on Earth. Using the concept of wireless energy transmission in which radio waves are converted in turn enter electrical current
On some models, the hardware acts as a giant mirror. Reflects the sun's rays onto solar panels on the earth's surface. This allows energy to be converted into electricity before the sun directly hits it at dawn or dusk.
These sun-harvesting structures are unrivaled in size. In current orbit: 3,000 times the area of the International Space Station. Based on NASA studies on agent design
Cost is the biggest barrier. truly, NASA report It found that space-based solar energy could be 12 to 80 times more expensive than ground-based alternatives, but the report said that assumption was needed because the technology is still so new.
“We found that costs are dominated by launch and production,” said Erica Rodgers, director of advanced programs in NASA's Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy and an author of the report.
As for the cost of launching a rocket There was an increase in mid-October. With the fifth test flight of SpaceX's Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, In the first time in the world The booster reached the edge of space and fell to be caught by two steel arms on the launch tower.
A repeat attempt in November was less successful, but smaller SpaceX Falcon rockets have shown they can be reused. However, they returned to the sea platform. and had to be towed back to land and repaired within several weeks. Starship ambitions to relaunch within hours with enormous storage capacity It can greatly reduce the cost of access to space.
“Spacecraft is one type of capability that is needed,” said Soltau of Space Solar. “We need to have multiple launch providers for flexibility and for them to be competitive. But that market is developing rapidly.”
One thing that some critics are concerned about is the level of greenhouse gas emissions that would result from putting a space solar power system into orbit, but the NASA report concludes that per unit of electricity production Emissions are likely to be in line with emissions resulting from construction of ground-based clean energy systems.
And even though it's expensive But the ability of space-based solar power to reduce costs.
For example, remote mining operations far from any electrical grid. Will pay much more for energy than average It may prove cheaper to build site-based solar power stations. Instead of isolating the infrastructure to connect to the grid or generate energy itself.
In the same way After a natural disaster When Grid received serious damage The temporary receiver can be directed to power sources from space solar installations.
In this situation It can be said that this technology can find entry-level channels. Even though costs are still high in the beginning.
Concerns include impacts on human health.
But even the price tag is acceptable and the technology is evolving smoothly. But there are still some worrisome issues.
Establishing international regulations and standards will be important for a number of reasons. Mr. Soltau said. One is to ensure interoperability “for example, African countries. You can build an antenna. And know that it is built to standards to be able to receive power from any solar satellite.”
Other concerns include whether sending energy to Earth will cause communications interference, for example, or harm human health.
The frequency used by space-based solar radio can be set to a bandwidth that will cause minimal interference to other systems. Operators can ensure that the equipment they use emits a maximum beam intensity that is lower than anything that might be. Danger For example, Space Solar states that its technology cannot transfer anything more powerful than one-fourth of the sun's intensity at noon.
“The analogy here is if you have an electric dryer in your house. That incoming electricity is very dangerous if you don't have insulation and regulation,” said Dr. Jaffe, now with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. “We may have to do something similar for solar power in space.”
