Solar Power From Space To Earth: A British company has planned to supply electricity from space to earth. A beam of clean energy will be released towards the earth through satellite which will be able to light up about 3,000 houses.
Science News: Supply of electricity from space to earth? If you said this a few years ago, even scientists would have started laughing. But now it is not so. Many countries including America, China, Japan are moving towards achieving such capability in the coming years. A British startup is also going to supply electricity to the earth through satellites present in space by 2030. This company wants to start supplying electricity to Iceland by sending the first demonstrator satellite by 2030. If it is successful, then this will be the first incident of this renewable energy source in the world.
How will electricity be supplied from space to earth?
This space solar power project is a partnership between UK’s Space Solar, Reykjavik Energy and Iceland’s sustainability initiative Transition Labs. The company plans to launch the first satellite in the next six years which will release a beam of 30 megawatts of clean energy on earth. About 3,000 houses can be illuminated with this much electricity. Energy will be sent from the satellite in the form of high-frequency radio waves. Receiving antennas installed on the ground will collect this energy and convert it into electricity and send it to the power grid.
No matter what the weather, there will be 24×7 power supply from space
This satellite will be about 400 meters wide including the solar panels. According to the report, the satellite can weigh 70.5 tonnes. It will orbit the planet in medium Earth orbit. This orbit is a near-space region at an altitude between 2,000 and 36,000 kilometers.
The partnership aims to build a fleet of six such space-based solar power stations by 2036. This fleet will be capable of supplying several gigawatts of clean electricity to people on Earth 24×7, regardless of the weather. By the mid-2040s, these power plants in space could be capable of supplying more than 15 gigawatts of energy.
How much will it cost? There will be no fault
According to Space Solar, the first power plant will cost $800 million to build. The company said that this system will provide electricity at a rate of about one-fourth the cost of nuclear power, i.e. $2.25 billion per gigawatt.
Unlike photovoltaics and wind turbines on Earth, satellite power plants will not have the problem of intermittent power generation. This is a major drawback of traditional renewable energy generation. These satellites will produce electricity continuously regardless of the time of day or weather conditions.
Musk’s company will carry this satellite
According to the plan made by Space Solar, each 30 megawatt solar farm will be delivered to orbit in a single launch by SpaceX’s Starship megarocket. SpaceX is the aerospace company of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. With the ability to carry up to 165 tons of payload to low Earth orbit, Starship has significantly reduced the cost of launch.
