[ad_1]
The possibilities don’t end there. While we currently depend on materials from Earth to build power plants, scientists also plan to use space resources for manufacturing, such as materials found on the Moon.
But one of the major challenges ahead will be returning energy to Earth. The plan is to convert electricity from solar cells into energy waves and use electromagnetic fields to transfer them to an antenna on the Earth’s surface. The antenna would then convert the waves back into electricity. Researchers led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have already developed designs and demonstrated an orbiter system that should be able to do just that.
There is still a lot of work to be done in this area, but the goal is for solar power plants in space to become a reality in the decades to come. Chinese researchers have designed a system called Omega, which they aim to have operational by 2050. This system is expected to be able to deliver 2 GW of electricity to the earth grid at peak performance, which is huge. To produce that much energy with solar panels on Earth, you would need more than six million.
Smaller solar satellites, like those designed to power lunar rovers, could be operational even sooner.
All over the world, the scientific community is devoting time and effort to the development of solar power plants in space. We hope that they can one day become a vital tool in our fight against climate change.
–
Amanda Jane Hughes is a lecturer in energy engineering at the University of Liverpool, where she research includes the design of solar cells and optical instruments. Stefania Soldini is a speaker in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Liverpool, and his expertise includes digital simulations for the design and guidance of spacecraft missions, navigation and control, asteroids and solar sail missions.
–
This article originally appeared on The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons license. This is also why this story does not have an estimate of its carbon emissions, as Future Planet stories usually do.
–
Join a million Future fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly newsletter of bbc.com features, called “The Essential List”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.
[ad_2]
Source link