Europe wants to achieve zero net emissions by the year 2050, something very difficult to achieve without a strong commitment to renewable energy.
That’s why solar power delivered wirelessly from space to Earth, SBSP (short for space-based solar power), is a solution that’s on the table.
In The Verge they have published an extensive article on the state of this technology, and here I outline the most important points to take into account:
– Sunlight is ten times more intense in the upper part of the atmosphere than on the surface of the Earth, which is why we must take advantage of it to capture the energy as high up as possible.
– Satellites will be launched to constantly collect solar energy, and transmit it wirelessly back to Earth to receiving stations.
– The name of the program responsible for that task is Solaris, and a decision on the matter will be made in 2025.
– A single solar power satellite would generate about 2 GW of power, equivalent to a conventional nuclear power plant, capable of powering more than a million homes.
– Hundreds of parts would need to be assembled in space to create a large solar station in space. One proposal is to install industrial capacity on the Moon to build solar-powered satellites from there, to avoid the cost of constantly launching rockets to ship parts. The possibility is even being considered of creating a lunar space elevator, a 100,000-200,000 km cable that would extend from the surface of the Moon to Earth to deliver material.
– Wireless Power Transmission Technology (WPT) will be used to send the collected energy to the Earth’s surface.
That said, all this will be decided in 2025, when we will know if it is technologically viable and the necessary numbers will be made to see who pays what.
More information at www.esa.int
