Giant Solar Panels In Space

The record breaking temperatures of the past few years are getting people to carefully consider ideas once thought wacky like cooling the earth with giant space mirrors.

Giant solar panels in space.

Potential advantages of collecting solar energy in space include a higher collection rate and a longer collection period due to the lack of a diffusing atmosphere and the possibility of placing a solar collector in an orbiting location where there is no night. The variant closest to dyson s original conception is the dyson swarm. Back on earth the energy containing radio frequencies from the space based solar panels would be received by a special antenna known as a rectenna which could be as big as six miles in. While on the surface of the earth society still struggles to adopt solar energy solutions many scientists maintain that giant space based solar farms could provide an environmentally friendly.

Back in 1968 american aerospace engineer dr. Solar panel equipped energy transmitting satellites collect high intensity uninterrupted solar radiation by using giant mirrors to reflect huge amounts of solar rays onto smaller solar collectors. Space based solar power sbsp is the concept of collecting solar power in outer space and distributing it to earth. Launched in 2011 juno is the first solar powered spacecraft designed to operate at such a great distance from the sun.

The four ton juno spacecraft carries three 30 foot long 9 meter solar arrays festooned with 18 698 individual solar cells. It consists of a large number of independent constructs usually solar power satellites and space habitats orbiting in a dense formation around the star this construction approach has advantages. Components could be sized appropriately and it can be constructed incrementally. That s why the surface area of solar panels required to generate adequate power is quite large.

This radiation is then wirelessly beamed to earth in a safe and controlled way as either a microwave or laser beam. The chinese government with the same concept in mind is hoping to launch a space based solar power station that can generate at least 1mw of electricity by 2030 and to have a commercial scale.