Development of Space Based Solar Power Gains Steam

Space based solar power (SBSP) has been gaining momentum in recent years as a potentially limitless source of clean energy here on Earth.  The process uses a technique called “power beaming,” which utilizes space lasers to redirect power harvested from solar panels in space or on the moon back to Earth.  But could space based solar power really be used to provide abundant energy for all?

The Mechanics of Space Based Solar Power

Solar panels, placed on the moon or on satellites, collect solar radiation using giant mirrors and then redirect it into smaller solar collectors.  The collected energy is then sent back to Earth either via a microwave or a laser beam.  The microwave system can produce up to 1 GW of energy (enough to electrify a large city), whereas the laser systems can only produce a maximum of 10MW, which would require hundreds of devices to be placed into operation to achieve the same impact.

Thanks to the threat of climate change, companies all over the globe see SBSP as the Holy Grail of future sustainability.  So, the technology clearly has potential, but the cost and effort necessary to deploy such systems is prohibitive.

For example, microwave solar-transmitting satellites would need to be situated about 22,000 miles into space to be used effectively, making any maintenance or repair activity cumbersome and time-consuming.  While the smaller laser satellites do not need to elevate nearly as high (they only need to go up about 250 miles), their smaller generating capacity would require hundreds to be operable to have any kind of an impact.  The estimated cost to launch just one of these ranges from $50 million all the way up to $400 million.

Despite the cost, many companies remain bullish on the idea because solar power is much more efficient in space (the Earth’s atmosphere reflects 30% of solar energy back into space, not to mention the fact that it’s dark every night and we often have bad weather).  Space based solar power could generate a whopping 40x more energy as an equivalent Earth system.

That said, the technology is not even close to being ready for prime time – in fact, commercialization is likely decades away.  That said, SBSP is an intriguing concept that seems likely to come to fruition at some point in the future.