At the end of last month in Munich, the engineers of the European aerospace firm Airbus demonstrated what could be the future of clean energy. They collected sunlight with solar panels, turned it into microwaves, and transmitted the energy through an airplane hangar, where it was turned into electricity that, among other things, illuminated a model city. The demo delivered just 2 kilowatts over 36 meters, but it raised a serious question: Is it time to resurrect a scheme long derided as science fiction and launch giant satellites to collect solar energy in space? In a high orbit, freed from the clouds and at night, they could generate energy 24 hours a day and transmit it to Earth.
“It’s not new science, it’s an engineering problem,” says Airbus engineer Jean-Dominique Coste. “But it’s never been done on a [large] scale.”
The urgent need for green energy, cheaper access to space, and improvements in technology could finally change this, proponents of space solar power believe. “Once someone has made the commercial investment, it will flourish. It could be a trillion-dollar industry,” says former NASA researcher John Mankins, who evaluated space solar power for the agency a decade ago. years ago
Major investments are likely far in the future, and myriad questions remain, including whether delivering gigawatts of power to the planet can be done efficiently — and without frying birds, if not people. But the idea is moving from concept papers to a growing number of tests on the ground and in space. The European Space Agency (ESA) – which sponsored the Munich demo – will next month propose to its member states a program of experiments on the ground to assess the viability of the scheme. The UK government this year is offering up to £6 million in grants to test technology. Chinese, Japanese, South Korean and American agencies all have small efforts underway. “The tone and tenor of the whole conversation has changed,” says NASA policy analyst Nikolai Joseph, author of an assessment that NASA plans to release in the coming weeks. What once seemed impossible, space policy analyst Karen Jones of the Aerospace Corporation says, may now be a matter of “putting it all together and making it work.”
NASA first studied the concept of space solar power during the fuel crisis of the mid-1970s. the astronauts – would have cost about $1 trillion. The idea was dropped and, according to Mankins, remains a taboo subject for many in the agency.
Today, both space technology and solar energy have changed beyond recognition. The efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells has increased by 25% in the past decade, Jones says, while costs have fallen. Microwave transmitters and receivers are a well-developed technology in the telecommunications industry. Robots that are being developed to repair and resupply satellites in orbit could turn to building giant solar arrays.
But the biggest push for the idea came from falling launch costs. A solar-powered satellite large enough to replace a typical nuclear or coal-powered station would have to be miles across, requiring hundreds of launches. “It will require a large-scale construction site in orbit,” says ESA space scientist Sanjay Vijendran.
Private space company SpaceX has made the notion seem less outlandish. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lofts cargo at about $2600 per kilogram – less than 5% of what it cost on the Space Shuttle – and the company promises taxes of only $10 per kilogram on its gigantic Starship, due to its first launch this year. “It changed the equation,” says Jones. “Economics is everything.”
Similarly, mass production reduces the cost of space hardware. Satellites are typically built with expensive components for space. NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars, for example, costs $2 million per kilogram. In contrast, SpaceX can launch its Starlink communications satellites for less than $1,000 per kilogram. That approach could work for giant space structures made of large numbers of identical components at low cost, Mankins, now with the consultancy Artemis Innovation Management Solutions, has long argued. Combine low-cost launches and this “hypermodularity,” he says, and “suddenly the economics of space solar power become apparent.”
Better engineering could make the economics more favorable. Coste says the Airbus demo in Munich was 5% efficient overall, comparing solar energy input with electricity output. Ground solar arrays do better, but only when the sun is shining. If the solar space can achieve 20% efficiency, recent studies say that it could compete with existing energy sources on the price.
Lower weight components will also improve the cost calculation. “Sandwich panels,” pizza box-sized devices with PV cells on one side, electronics in the middle, and a microwave transmitter on the other, could help. Put thousands of these together like a tiled floor and they form the basis of a space solar satellite without a lot of heavy wiring to move the power around. Researchers have been testing prototypes on the ground for years, but in 2020 a team from the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) arrived aboard the Air Force’s X-37B experimental space plane.
“It’s still in orbit, producing data all the time,” says project manager Paul Jaffe of NRL. The panel is 8% efficient in converting solar energy into microwaves, but does not send them to Earth. Next year, however, the Air Force plans to test a sandwich panel that will transmit its energy. And a team from the California Institute of Technology will launch its prototype panel in December with SpaceX.
The disadvantage of sandwich panels is that the microwave side must always face the Earth, so, like satellite orbits, the PV side sometimes moves away from the Sun. To maintain 24-hour power, a satellite needs mirrors to keep that side illuminated, with the added benefit that the mirrors can also concentrate the light on the PV. A 2012 NASA study by Mankins presented a design in which a bowl-shaped structure with thousands of individually steerable thin-film mirrors directs light onto the PV array.
Ian Cash of the International Electric Company of the United Kingdom developed a different approach. His proposed satellite uses large fixed angled mirrors to deflect light onto a PV and microwave array while the entire structure rotates to keep the mirrors pointed toward the sun (see graphic, above). The power from the PV cells is converted into microwaves and fed to 1 billion small perpendicular antennas, which together act as a “phased array,” electronically directing the beam toward Earth whatever the satellite’s orientation. This design, says Cash, provides the most power for its mass, making it “the most economically competitive.”
If a space-based power plant ever flies, the power it generates will need to reach the ground efficiently and safely. In a recent ground test, Jaffe’s NRL team made 1.6 kilowatts over 1 kilometer, and teams in Japan, China and South Korea have similar efforts. But current transmitters and receivers lose half of their input power. For space solar, energy radiation needs to be 75% efficient, Vijendran says, “ideally 90%.”
The safety of transmitting gigawatts through the atmosphere also needs testing. Most designs aim to produce a beam miles wide so that any spacecraft, plane, person or bird straying into it receives only a tiny, hopefully harmless, portion of the 2 gigawatt transmission. The receiving antennas are cheap to build, but “they require a lot of real estate,” says Jones, although he says you can grow crops under them or sit offshore.
For now, Europe is where public agencies are taking space solar power the most seriously. “There’s a commitment here that you don’t see in the United States,” says Jones. Last year, ESA commissioned two cost/benefit studies of space solar. Vijendran says they concluded that they could design renewables based on land based on cost. But even at a higher price, comparable to nuclear energy, its 24-hour availability – unlike solar or conventional wind – makes it competitive.
In November, ESA will ask member states to fund an assessment of whether the technical obstacles can be overcome. If the news is good, the agency will lay out plans for a full effort in 2025. Armed with €15 billion to €20 billion, ESA could put a megawatt demonstration facility into orbit in 2030 and scale to gigawatts – the equivalent of a conventional power plant – by 2040, says Vijendran. “It’s like a moonshot.”
What are the disadvantages of solar energy?
Disadvantages of solar energy This may interest you : Polarized photovoltaic properties emerge.
- Cost. The initial cost of buying a solar system is quite high. …
- Dependent on the weather. Although solar energy can still be collected during cloudy and rainy days, the efficiency of the solar system drops. …
- Solar energy storage is expensive. …
- Uses a lot of space. …
- Association with pollution.
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What is the best environment for solar?
That’s because solar panels absorb energy from our sun’s abundant light, not the sun’s heat. In fact, cold climates are actually optimal for the efficiency of solar panels. On the same subject : What are the different types of solar energy ?. Whenever sunlight hits a solar panel, it generates electricity.
How much are space solar panels?
SEIA estimates that the national average cost of a residential solar panel system is $2.94 per watt. * That translates to just under $11,000 for a 5 kW system, the average size of a standard residential solar system in the United States. The price of solar panels varies by brand and retailer.
How much is the Tesla solar panel? How much do Tesla solar panels cost? Tesla solar panels range in price from $9,600 to $48,352, before incentives, depending on the size of the system that is best for your home. If you want to add energy storage to your system, each Tesla Powerwall will cost you an additional $11,500 before incentives.
How many solar panels are in space?
Solar Array Facts Together, the arrays contain a total of 262,400 solar cells and cover an area of about 27,000 square feet (2,500 square meters) – more than half the area of a football field. The wingspan of a solar array of 240 feet (73 meters) is longer than the wingspan of a Boeing 777, which is 212 feet (65 meters).
Are there solar panels in space?
While space-based solar power is an innovative concept, we are not able to fully launch a system into space. Launching a space-based solar system is very expensive. In fact, the cost is estimated to be about 100 times too high to compete with current utility costs.
How many solar panels could power the world?
How Many Solar Panels Would It Take to Power the World? It takes 51.4 billion 350W solar panels to power the world! In other words, this is the equivalent of a solar power plant covering 115,625 square kilometers.
How many solar panels does the space station have?
The International Space Station also uses solar arrays to power everything on the station. The 262,400 solar cells cover about 27,000 square feet (2,500 m2) of space. There are four sets of solar arrays powering the station and the fourth set of arrays was installed in March 2009.
Which solar panel is used in space?
Until the early 1990s, solar arrays used in space mainly used crystalline silicon solar cells. Since the early 1990s, solar cells based on gallium arsenide have become favored over silicon because they have higher efficiency and degrade more slowly than silicon in the space radiation environment.
Can solar panels work in space?
Solar panels could be damaged by space debris. Also, panels in space are not protected by the Earth’s atmosphere. Being exposed to more intense solar radiation means they will degrade faster than those on Earth, which will reduce the power they are able to generate.
Who makes solar panels for space?
Spectrolab Inc., a Boeing Company, is the world’s largest manufacturer of spacecraft solar cells.
Does NASA use SunPower panels?
That’s why NASA chose high-efficiency SunPower cells to build experimental solar-powered aircraft, generate power at NASA facilities, explore the Greenland ice sheet and test solar for unmanned vehicles designed to explore planets like mars.
Is space solar power possible?
While space-based solar power is an innovative concept, we are not able to fully launch a system into space. Launching a space-based solar system is very expensive. In fact, the cost is estimated to be about 100 times too high to compete with current utility costs.
Is space-based solar power renewable?
Space-based solar energy is the concept of harvesting solar energy in space, and transmitting it to earth, thereby overcoming the intermittency of terrestrial renewable energy. The advantages it offers include clean energy, continuous baseload, with much lower land use than conventional renewables.
Can you generate power in space?
The space-based solar power system involves a solar power satellite – a huge spacecraft equipped with solar panels. These panels generate electricity, which is then transmitted wirelessly to Earth via high-frequency radio waves.
