Space Power

First proposed in 1968 by then-president of the International Solar Energy Society Peter Glaser, this technology, based on collecting sunlight from a geostationary orbit high above the Earth would enable the gathering of constant light that is eight times as strong as the sunlight found at ground level. A solar panel on the orbiting structure would convert the light to electric current, which would then be beamed to Earth by microwave to a specified antenna. Researchers estimate that satellites with solar panels would have to be more than one mile long. A big challenge is that the final output, under current technology, is too low to justify the enormous costs related to such a project, initially estimated to be $305 billion (in 2000 dollars). Since then, costs may have fallen somewhat due to technological advances.

The University of Neuchatel in Switzerland developed a film for use in space that potentially yields very high-power densities per kilogram of satellite weight. There is also interest in SSP in Japan, where the JAXA space agency has expressed interest in launching a satellite that would spread into a sizable solar array capable of beaming 100 kilowatts of microwave or laser power to Earth.

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