The Global Race to Harness Solar Power From Space

Several countries around the globe are racing to develop space-based solar power (SBSP) systems to harness solar power from space. On Earth, solar power has become a popular form of renewable energy production. However, tapping solar power is limited by night, cloud cover, atmospheric conditions, and seasonality.Roughly 30 per cent of all incoming solar radiation never makes it to ground level. Meanwhile, in space, the sun shines constantly. For this reason, several governments are exploring the potential to develop SBSP projects that will help countries access more solar power while reducing dependence on land.SBSP works by placing microwave-transmitting satellites in geostationary orbit at an altitude of 35,000 km above Earth’s surface to beam power to massive solar reflectors on Earth. These reflectors can span up to 3 km and weigh more than 80,000 metric tonnes. If deployed successfully, these mechanisms are thought to be capable of generating multiple gigawatts of clean power. The bonus is that this power could be used to supply remote regions of the world without needing to expand the traditional grid to build a large local power plant.The long wavelength of the microwave means that a long antenna is required to beam power through the Earth’s atmosphere in any weather condition, at safe, low-intensity levels, barely stronger than the midday sun. In addition, the technology is not expected to interfere with birds or planes. Countries such as China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan are all developing SBSP projects to assess the feasibility of producing solar power from space. China’s ZhuRi (Chase the Sun) programme, the U.K.’s Space Solar programme, and Japan’s OHISAMA project all aim to develop the technology needed to achieve SBSP first. Meanwhile, the U.S. is exploring solar power beaming, with projects underway at Caltech and the Air Force Research Laboratory.In the U.K., the company Space Solar aims to launch two demonstration missions in the coming years: one to transmit power to the ground via radio waves, and another to demonstrate how robots could construct large structures in space. The U.K. government has provided around $1.6 million in funding for the project. The firm aims to eventually develop a 1.8km-wide structure in space called Cassiopeia, fitted with millions of table-sized satellites to collect sunlight 24/7. It would then use antennas to beam the power to a receiving station on the ground the size of Heathrow Airport to convert the radio waves into electricity.In the U.S., in 2024, at an American football stadium in Florida, the company Star Catcher beamed light across the length of the pitch from an emitter to a screen. The light was harnessed from the Sun and beamed out by large lenses on the field, each about 1.2m tall, resembling magnifying glasses. The company’s CEO Andrew Rush stated, “We beamed 100 watts about 105 metres.”In January, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX applied for Federal Communications Commission permission to launch a constellation of 1 million satellites to produce SBSP to power AI data centres. “By directly harnessing near-constant solar power with little operating or maintenance costs, these satellites will achieve transformative cost and energy efficiency while significantly reducing the environmental impact associated with terrestrial data centres,” the FCC filing said.Meanwhile, in April, the startup Overview Energy announced plans to develop an SBSP satellite constellation by 2030, to beam 1 GW of power to Meta’s AI data centres. Overview plans to beam power from space to existing solar panels on the ground using a near-infrared, laser-based power-beaming technique that the company is currently patenting.Laura Wetzel, an Overview Energy representative, said, “Under our agreement, Meta has 24/7 access to the beam capacity.” She added, “Since they have a lot of solar projects in different places around the world, they’ll be able to use the beam somewhere at any given time.”Meanwhile, in China, the Zhuri project has achieved several breakthroughs in critical technologies for SBSP stations and microwave wireless power transmission. Zhuri has independently developed an Earth-based verification system for one-to-many wireless power transmission to moving targets and is working to apply the technology.Supporters of the technology believe that developing the necessary technology to achieve SBSP would help accelerate the deployment of clean power and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, with minimal environmental harm. Space solar power could meet needs, according to some estimates, due to its higher power density.However, opponents of SBSP say that developing the technology is exorbitantly expensive, is highly uncertain due to the vast array of untested assumptions, and too complex to be achieved in time to support an urgent green transition.Several countries are investing billions of dollars in the development of SBSP to harness solar power and provide abundant, clean electricity worldwide. However, several challenges remain to be overcome to achieve this aim, with commercial deployment now expected between the 2030s and 2050s.By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.comMore Top Reads From Oilprice.comOil Prices Head for 12% Weekly Loss Despite Fresh Tanker AttacksConocoPhillips Doubles Profit to $4 Billion, Raises DividendADNOC Gas to Supply LNG to TotalEnergies Under Five-Year Deal