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The plans were generally described in the country's Twelfth Five-Year Plan in 2008. Since then, China's Office of Defense Science and Technology has supported key technological research. An initial megawatt – scale project is planned in the stratosphere during the period 2021-2025.
A few decades later than Russia and the United States, but without ambition no less ambitious, the race for space in China is proceeding as planned.
The latest project of the country: a solar plant of several gigawatts to orbit around the Earth and transmit energy in the form of microwaves to a terrestrial receiver. Such an offer would theoretically be uninterrupted by nightfall or a seasonal change, according to an article published in the Chinese technical journal Daily Science and Technology.
This ambitious project is located in the same barn as the longest bridge in the world, from Hong Kong to Zhuhai. the largest hydroelectric plant in the world – the Three Gorges Dam; and the huge infrastructure project "One Belt One Road".
The solar plan would also highlight China's space capabilities after the landing of the Lunar 4 spaceship on the dark side of the moon.
The experimental stages of the first solar power station were reportedly launched in Chongqing. If successful, the project would also see the solar technology looped, since the first area of application of PV, several decades ago, was to generate electricity for satellites and space stations orbiting the Earth.
Geostationary orbit
The Chinese plan would place a solar power plant 36,000 km from the Earth, in a geostationary orbit, fixed above a certain point on the Earth's surface. Seasonal changes in solar irradiance and day and night changes would be negligible and project researchers expect solar energy to be produced 99% of the time, representing a sixfold increase in the rate of use in the field. Higher yields are also likely due to a lack of atmosphere to absorb solar energy.
The scope of the project would not be limited to the supply of largely uninterrupted solar energy. Researchers have suggested that a solar power plant can power isolated areas on Earth, as well as spacecraft and satellites, as well as long-duration space stations based on the Moon.
In recent years, the efficiency of energy conversion of solar cells and microwave conversion has been significantly improved, potentially making possible the realization of such an ambitious project. Scaling up is important and the project should grow to a considerable size at the very beginning. During the initial phases, the team would employ an application of several megawatts, with a field of solar panels extending over several square kilometers.
Such a power plant would far exceed the largest artificial orbiter. The International Space Station weighs about 400 tons and has required the establishment of a joint international effort. With a projected mass of several thousand tons, any space station would require a considerably greater effort. A plant with a size of one gigawatt could weigh about 10,000 tons, which would pose serious logistical problems.
3D printing
The research team suggested that the plant be 3D printed in space and assembled by robots. Even in this case, it would be necessary to develop new vehicles, equipment and converters of terrestrial energy in orbit. Combined with the technical challenges of remote control, in-orbit assembly and maintenance procedures, the project would face enormous challenges.
As part of the country's twelfth five-year plan, in 2008, the National Defense Science and Technology Bureau (China) provided support to the project.
The Chongqing team reportedly began work last year and would build a small to medium-sized solar power plant in the stratosphere between 2021 and 2025. According to the plans, the stratospheric power plant would be equipped with a wireless microwave network. waves. connection to transmit the energy produced.
According to the newspaper, Chinese engineers have proposed a roadmap for the realization of this ambitious project. According to the plan, after 2030, a megawatt test station would be built. By 2050, the plan would be to have a solar power plant at the gigawatt scale in the space.
We have been here before …
The idea of transmitting solar energy from an area where it is abundant where it is needed has already made headlines. The northern regions of Africa should have been home to huge solar parks with transmission lines crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. This idea has faded due to concerns over pricing and security of supply.
More concretely, the PV opening time came when the price of solar energy fell below that of coal and gas in several markets.
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