Space-Based Solar Power : 144% more powerful than on earth

A Science Fiction concept brought to reality 

When you first hear the phrase “Space Based Solar Power” images of a James Bond villain, spring to mind, as he plots to take over the world with his evil scheme of “Space Solar Power”. However, harvesting solar power in space and sending it to Earth as a renewable energy source, is a dream that will soon be realized. So, let’s ask the BIG question - How is this possible? How is this almost science fiction sounding technology becoming a reality?

First of all, let’s start with the definition. Space-based solar power or space solar power is a way to collect the solar energy, from our Sun, before this energy hits the Earth’s surface. The energy is literally captured and collected in space. Not only does the location of where the solar energy collection takes place, make it different from how we collect solar power here on Earth, but the satellites which collect the Sun’s rays are dynamic, they are actually orbiting the Earth. Here on Earth, our method of collecting solar energy is with a physically fixed solar panel, that is normally on the roof of our home or office or fixed to the ground.

Now you are thinking: But what are the benefits of collecting solar power in space versus here on Earth? The World Radiation Centre estimates that rays collected in space are 144% more powerful than those collected on earth. Why? The short answer has two parts:

1. Our atmosphere or ozone layer
2. Our rotating planet 

Our ozone layer blocks, or protects, our planet from several forms of radiation. So the radiation received by a satellite in space will have a different radiation profile, a more powerful one, than what we receive here on Earth. Like our planet, the satellites set up in  space, to collect solar rays, will orbit the Earth so they can collect sun 24 hours a day. Locally, our solar panels can only collect sun, at most, 12 hours a day. Half the time a space-based collector can. Us earthlings are also challenged with the weather that will reduce our ability to collect the sun, all those rainy day can be so cumbersome. We are also challenged with the varying strength of sun, even on even the brightest days of the year, the strength of the Sun’s rays’ is reduced near sunset and sunrise. The space ray collectors can collect a more uniform strength of sun. So there is a huge benefit to being able to collect solar power from space, it is stronger and there is the ability to collect more of it each day.

So we can see that we can collect the rays with orbiting satellites outfitted with solar panels and we see the benefits to collecting the rays in space. Now, how do we get the energy collected back down to Earth? Now here is where the James Bond stuff comes into play. The solar energy, collected in space, would be converted into electrical energy that would power a microwave emitter and would in turn beam this energy towards the Earth’s surface where a collector, here on Earth, would receive the energy. So now, you are imagining a beam of light hitting the Earth from space, and you are theoretically correct. 

Now there are a whole set of issues around how the electricity gets put into the grid, paid for and who owns it, and this is a larger discussion that has a huge political background that we can explore in another column. What we are more interested with in this article is: How does this new way of collecting a renewable resource impact the environment?

The National Security Space Office (NSSO) estimates that, in theory, one kilometer of solar collectors can collect a supply of energy ,on an annual basis, “equal to the energy contained in all of the known recoverable conventional oil reserves on Earth today.” 

Wow! But...    

The size of a single solar-power satellite, the one that orbits the Earth collecting solar power, would be 15 times the size of the current international space station. What about the size of the collecting station and where would it be housed? The NSSO suggests the collecting station on Earth would be in a desert. The result of the beam on this eco-system is that it would turn into a lush landscape. This sounds great, don’t we want more lush rain forrest like areas in the world? But changing one eco-system changes them all, especially one as large as Sahara. We are all connected and we really cannot predict the ramifications of such a drastic change.

We then need to factor in the production of these big satellites and receiving stations. Are they made out of recycled materials? How many times do we need to send crews up into space to maintain these solar collectors, what debris do we leave in space to do this? 

With so many factors still up in the air and the pros and cons so vast, this is a technology that will challenge us all as it finds its place in the future. For now, at least you are in the know as to what this new technology could is, enjoy the current hot discussion going on around this topic!

Source : http://www.greenlivingonline.com/