A prototype built on Earth has helped a company that hopes to launch the world’s first solar farm in space reach a crucial milestone.
Space Solar, based in Oxfordshire, plans to power over a million homes with a mile-wide array of mirrors and panels orbiting at 22,000 miles above Earth by 2030.
The system must rotate in the direction of the sun at all times, regardless of its position. It still sends power to the fixed receiver on the earth.
It’s been demonstrated for the first-time at Queen’s University Belfast. A wireless beam was successfully “steered”, across a laboratory to turn on a lamp.
Martin Soltau is the founder of the company. He said in an exclusive interview that this was a “world first”. You can have constant energy at all times.
This is going to have an enormous impact on the future of our energy systems.”
Solar panels can capture 13 times as much energy in Space as they do on Earth, because there is no night or atmosphere and the light intensity of the space is greater.
Although some energy is lost when it’s beam back to Earth, and then connected to the grid, the amount of power generated on Earth would still be far greater.
It’s not just the ability to produce power continuously that makes space-based energy attractive as a way to provide a “baseload”, or supplementary source of renewable energy, but also the fact that it can be used around the clock.
At present, gas turbines and nuclear energy provide baseload power for the grid. However, they produce carbon dioxide or radioactive waste.
Soltau said, “This is the reason the government is excited about the prospect of solar energy in space.”
It is not only very capable, but it also helps to improve the efficiency of the entire energy system.
The cost of electricity is about a quarter that of nuclear.
Up until recently, the idea of building a solar power station capable of producing 2,000 tonnes in space was dismissed as science-fiction.
Soltau said that the company has been in contact with SpaceX to discuss the use of Starship, , the most powerful rocket ever developed.
It is estimated that 68 launches will be required to transport a kit of components, which would then be assembled into a power plant in orbit by robots.
The rocket will also dramatically reduce the cost to put anything into orbit, to just 1% of its 20-year-old price.
Soltau said that the technology was a game changer. “We will be able do things in the space that were not even feasible a decade ago.”
A potential challenge is to convince the public that microwave beams returning power to Earth are harmless.
Mr Soltau claimed that it only has a quarter the energy as the midday sun on the equator, and will be “locked in” to a receiver station.
He said that safety was at the core of his design.
These receiving antennas will be located offshore, away from the majority of population centers.
“We have a very clear plan to show (safety), and to bring the public along with us.”
Dr Jovana Radilovic, an energy expert at the University of Portsmouth and independent, believes that space-based solar power is a major part of meeting future electricity requirements.
It is important to provide more evidence for the claim that multiple launches of rockets have a small carbon footprint.
She said, “The carbon dioxide emissions are equal to renewable energy.” “But this doesn’t include potential pollution effects on the upper atmosphere.”
“I believe if we could prove to the public that solar energy from space is cleaner than other alternatives, it would be more popular.”
China, Japan, the European Space Agency, and several US companies are all working together to make space-based Solar a reality.
The Space Energy Initiative, a collaboration between the UK government, university research and private companies such as EDF and National Grid has been formed to speed up plans to launch a solar power plant in orbit.