Beaming solar power down to Earth from space? Don’t laugh. The idea — once written off as technically and financially unworkable — is being actively considered by several countries, including the US, China, Korea, Japan, and the UK. The European Space Agency is also involved. In January, the ESA said it would fund 13 of the 85 proposals it received after it put out a call for ideas related to space-based solar power (SBSP).
On its website, the ESA says, “By coming “close to the theoretical transmission efficiencies via electromagnetic waves (50–60%) … we could produce around 400 W of electricity per square meter on Earth receivers, which is about two to three times the amount we could receive from the same area of terrestrial PV panels.” One of the critical factors in favor of SBSP is that it operates 24 hours a day, which means — in theory — there would be no need for large battery storage installations and the energy beamed down from above would be continuous all day every day.
The UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy commissioned a study by Frazer-Nash Consultancy that was released in September 2021. Entitled Space Based Solar Power—De-Risking the Pathway to Net Zero, the study identified the following as drivers in renewed interest in SBSP.
- A new political will exists now as countries seek diverse technologies to decarbonize their economies and reach net zero by 2050.
- The costs of commercial space launches have dropped dramatically as private companies enter the market.
- New highly modular solid-state solar-power satellite designs such as SPS-Alpha and CASSIOPeiA have been conceived for high-volume commercial manufacture. This also lowers costs.
- Technologies required to make SBSP a reality have matured. These include high-concentration solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, wireless power transmission, and space robotics.
- Countries view their ability to provide unlimited affordable energy from space to any point on the planet as a way to leverage global influence, evidenced by the fact that not only Britain and Europe have recently renewed their interest but also the US, China, Japan, and South Korea.
That study found the levelized cost of energy from space-based solar power would be lower than most conventional thermal generation sources and only slightly higher than solar and wind power.
Space-Based Solar Power Initiatives
According to The Hill, China expects to launch a satellite by 2028 that will serve as a testbed for SBSP. Based on the lessons learned from that first satellite, it will launch an updated satellite about 2 years later. After a series of upgrades, the Chinese government hopes to be sending down commercially affordable power from a space station that will by then produce as much energy as a current nuclear plant by 2050. China’s Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Research Institute for Civil-Military Integration has been conducting power-beaming experiments and is building an SBSP testing facility, reports the …….
Source: https://cleantechnica.com/2022/06/08/space-based-solar-power-is-back-on-the-table/