Forget solar panels on roofs, powerplants and wind turbines blighting our landscape – space-based solar power could be closer to reality than we once thought.
Testing and inspection has been completed on a new tower that could pave the way to space-based solar power in China, according to researchers at Xidian University.
The announcement means we’re a step closer to a concept long considered a potential key to solving the energy and climate crisis facing the earth.
Scientists ran a successful test on June 5 which was — according to a statement published by the university — the “world’s first full-link and full-system solar power plant”.
The 246 ft (75 m) tall structure made of steel can be found on Xidian University’s southern campuses, equipped with five different systems designed to foster the eventual development of space-based solar power.
In recent years, other nations have also set their sights on space-based solar power. In March, the UK government reportedly considered a £16 billion (€18.72 billion) proposal to build a solar power station in space.
In the US, a $100 million (€95.93 million) partnership was made to provide advanced technology for their own space-based solar power system.
Japan has also made the field part of its future space exploration vision.
Science fiction or reality?
The hope of this venture is that, in theory, the satellites could continuously collect photons from the sun — converting the energy to photovoltaic cells, and wirelessly beam that electricity as microwaves back to receivers on Earth.
Although this may seem like a venture straight out of a science fiction novel, the concept of space solar power isn’t new, Dr Jovana Radulovic, Head of the Mechanical and Design Engineering School at the University of Portsmouth, noted.
“Engineers and scientists in the last century have been coming up with these ideas,” she told Euronews Next.
The theory made its first appearance as far back as the 1960s, proposed by Peter Glaser, a scientist and aerospace engineer who was also president of the Power from Space Consultants.
In theory, a space-based solar power station placed in Earth’s orbit would be fruitful, due to being illuminated by the Sun 24 hours a day allowing it to generate electricity continuously.
This gives the tech a significant advantage compared with solar power systems placed on Earth, which can only produce electricity during the day and are heavily dependent on the weather.
As global energy use is projected to increase by nearly 50 per cent by 2050, this method of generating power could play a crucial role in helping meet the growing demand and tackling the climate crisis.
Space-based solar comes with significant challenges
However promising the technology may seem at first glance, this space-based solution to real-world problems comes with significant challenges too.
First, and arguably the most obvious, is the barrier of cost. …….