It sounds like science fiction: Huge solar power plants floating in space that beam huge amounts of energy radiation on Earth. And for a long time, the concept – developed in 1920 by the first Russian scientist, Konstantin Tsilokovsky – was the main inspiration for writers.
A century later, however, scientists are making great strides to turn the concept into reality. The European Space Agency has realized the potential of these efforts and is now considering funding such projects, predicting that we will get the first industrial industrial resource from space, a “powerful force”.
Climate change is the biggest challenge of our time, so a lot is at stake. From rising global temperatures to migratory weather patterns, the effects of climate change are already being felt around the world. To meet this challenge will require a radical change in how we generate and consume genes.
Renewable energy release technologies have seen rapid growth in recent years with improved efficiency and lower costs. But a major obstacle to their use is the fact that they do not provide a constant supply of supplies. Wind and solar farms produce energy only when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining – but we need electricity twenty-four hours a day. Finally, before we can switch to renewable sources, we need a way to store large amounts of energy.
The benefits of space
One possible way to do this is to generate solar energy in space. This has many advantages. A space-based solar power station can orbit the sun 24 hours a day. Earth’s atmosphere absorbs and reflects sunlight, so the solar cells above the atmosphere will receive more sunlight and produce more radiation.
But one of the main challenges in overcoming it is how to assemble, launch and deploy such large formats. A solar power station should be about 10 kilometers square in the area – the equivalent of 1,400 football pitches. Using lightweight materials will also be crucial, as the biggest cost will be the cost of putting the station into space on a rocket.
One proposed solution is for thousands of small satellites that would come together and configure to form a single, larger solar generator to develop its germs. In 2017, researchers at the California Institute of Technology outlined the design for a modular power station with thousands of ultralight solar cell tiles. They also showed a prototype tile weighing only 280 grams per square meter, similar to the weight of the card.
Recently, the app is also looking at the development of manufacturing like 3D printing. At the University of Liverpool, we are exploring new production techniques for printing on solar cells at Ultralight Solar Cells. Solar Sail is a foldable, light weight and highly reflective membrane capable of using the effect of the sun’s radiation pressure to propel a spacecraft forward without fuel. We are looking at how to embed solar cells on solar cell structures to create larger, fuel-free solar power stations.
These methods will enable us to build power stations in space. Indeed, it is possible to build and deploy units in space from the International Space Station or the future Lunar Gateway Station that will orbit the Moon. Such devices could in fact help provide power to the moon.
The possibilities don’t end there. While we are currently relying on material from the earth to build power plants, scientists are also considering using resources for production, such as material found on the moon.
The other big challenge is that the rear power will be transmitted to the earth. There are plans to convert electricity from solar cells into energy waves and transfer them to antennas on the surface of the earth using electromagnetic fields. The antenna will then convert the waves back into electricity. Researchers led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have designed and demonstrated an orbiter system that should be able to do this.
There is still a lot of work to be done in this area, but the goal is to make solar power stations in space a reality in the coming decades. Researchers in China have developed a system called Omega, which they aim to operate by 2050. This display should be able to supply 2GW of power to the Earth’s grid at the time of accomplished performance, which is a large sum. To generate so much power with solar panels on Earth, you would need more than six million of them.
Even small solar power satellites designed to power lunar rovers could be operational sooner.
Worldwide, the scientific community is committed to the time and effort to develop solar power stations in space. We hope that they will one day be an important tool in the fight against climate change.
This article was originally published at the University of Liverpool, on a conversation by Amanda Jane Hughes and Stephanie Soldini. Read the original article here.
