Energy bills feel like they’re astronomically high right now – but one British startup is taking this rather literally.
Space Solar wants to keep the lights on in Iceland by beaming solar power from space in a massive step to limitless renewable energy for all.
In what could be the world’s first commercial enterprise of this novel renewable energy source – you know, the Sun – the aerospace company will launch a solar power plant into Earth’s orbit.
The plant would soak up the Sun’s rays before beaming back about 30 megawatts of clean energy – enough to power 3,000 homes.
How would it work?
The 2,000 tonne, 1.7km wide satellite would transmit energy ‘wirelessly via safe high-frequency radio waves to ground-based stations’, Space Solar says.
These six by 13-kilometre stations – about 8% the size of a wind farm – have massive receivers called rectenna that convert the radio waves into electricity.
The rectenna works by harvesting the electromagnetic radiation in the waves and converting the energy from them into electricity, as experts explain.
Space Solar, in collaboration with the private Icelandic climate sustainability company Transition Lab and the country’s energy provider, announced the plans in October.
Chucking some solar panels out in space is a no-brainer but is certainly easier said than done.
Down on Earth, solar is one of the fastest-growing energy sources but once the planet twists away from the sun or a few too many clouds form, solar farms can only do so much.
Reykjavik Energy says you won’t get this issue in space for, well, obvious reasons if you get a satellite in the right orbit.
‘Unlike ground-based solar power plants, Space Solar’s solar power plants will be able to generate electricity day and night, regardless of weather conditions or cloud cover,’ the utility company said.
NASA, however, warned earlier this year that a space-based power system would be quite the feat to pull off. The tiniest lump of space debris could spell disaster.
Space Solar stresses that it can avoid this issue by having SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket launch power plants into emptier parts of space.
Would it pose any danger to humans?
Don’t worry, you won’t be microwaved if you’re caught in the crosshairs of this beam.
The radio waves – used in everything from Wi-Fi to mobile phone signals – are weak so pose no threat.
When would it be ready by?
Whose kettles will be powered by the $800 million satellite hasn’t been decided but the plan is to launch the first orbital power plant by 2030.
If the idea takes off, by 2036, the partners envision a fleet of six space-based solar power stations that could power up homes in Canada and northern Japan.
The system will provide electricity at about one-quarter the cost of nuclear power, at $2,250,000,000 per gigawatt.
‘Space-based solar power offers unparalleled benefits with competitive energy costs and 24/7 availability,’ said Martin Soltau, co-CEO of Space Solar, adding that the science-fiction grade idea would help the world achieve carbon neutrality.
Reykjavik Energy CEO Sævar Freyr Þráinsson added: ‘This is a hugely exciting project with a number of complex engineering challenges still to be solved. It is important to think big and support progressive projects.’
A solar plant whizzing around the abyss of space is the latest in a wave of clean power being frantically looked at as human-induced climate change upheaves the world.
This year will almost certainly be the hottest year on record, beating the high set in 2023, scientists said last week. This year is also on track to be the first in which global temperatures consistently rose 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.
This is a number you’ve likely heard many a politician and scientists being up. Anything beyond 1.5°C of warming will irreversibly damage the Earth, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the EU agency that monitors global warming.
And it’s already not looking good. With greenhouse gases still being spewed from the burning of fossil fuels, biodiversity is collapsing, sea levels are rising and extreme weather like drought, storms and hurricanes are becoming more frequent.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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