Japan is on a mission to beam solar power from space by 2025

[midian182]

Forward-looking: Japan's decades-long mission to transmit solar power collected in space back to Earth could move a step closer to reality in just a few years. A public-private partnership wants to start a trial sometime around 2025 using small satellites launched into orbit.

An American physicist first proposed the concept of launching solar panels into space to generate electricity in 1968. The idea is to turn the captured solar power into microwaves before sending them to ground-based stations over 22,000 miles away to be converted into electricity.

Nikkei reports that in the 1980s, Japan was the first country in the world to successfully transmit power via microwaves in space. Kyoto University professor Naoki Shinohara took over the group that achieved this feat, and in 2009 it was able to transmit power from an airship flying at an altitude of 30 meters (98.4 feet) to a mobile phone on the ground.

Kyoto University test equipment

Another breakthrough came in 2015 when Japan and scientists from the country's space administration successfully beamed 1.8 kilowatts of power, enough to power a small kettle, more than 50 meters to a small receiver without the use of wires. Distances between 1km (0.6 miles) and 5km (3.1 miles) will be attempted at some point in the future.

The biggest experiment will take place in the middle of the century (fiscal 2025) when small satellites will be used to see if they can send power from outer space to ground-based receiving stations.

Successfully beaming power from space has become a global race. The US Air Force Research Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology are trying to do the same thing, and so are Chongqing University in China and the European Space Agency.

Clean and unlimited renewable energy is an appealing prospect for countries, especially as more companies aim for net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. But the biggest issue will likely be the cost. Generating the equivalent of one nuclear reactor (1 gigawatt) would require a square of space-based solar panels measuring 2 km (1.2 miles) on each side. It's estimated that an array of this size would cost more than $7.1 billion.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/98869-japan-mission-beam-solar-power-space-2025.html

 

[Aaron Jones]

Am I missing something? The sun already beams solar power to the surface of the planet, and has done so for billions of years. Most people call this sunlight.

 

[CrazyDave]

Am I missing something? The sun already beams solar power to the surface of the planet, and has done so for billions of years. Most people call this sunlight.

I'm no scientist, but I believe solar energy captured in space should be converted much more efficiently than the losses incurred by solar rays traveling through the atmosphere/pollution/weather conditions/dirty panels, etc. Also the fact that you could potentially capture solar rays 24/7, even while it's night on earth is the other obvious benefit.

 

[Scrye74]

I remember this from Simcity 2k. I also remember it frying my city when the microwave beam missed the collector. I'm sure science has eliminated such possibilities and I am sure nobody would intentionally jiffy pop an entire city.

 

[sorten]

Japan's space agency uses a fiscal calendar?

 

[mbk34]

"It's estimated that an array of this size would cost more than $7.1 billion"
So roughly the same price as a nuclear power station but without the waste to worry about. Though it is twice the price of building a coal fired power station but obviously you don't have to buy coal or breath the output.

 

[gamerk2]

I remember this from Simcity 2k. I also remember it frying my city when the microwave beam missed the collector. I'm sure science has eliminated such possibilities and I am sure nobody would intentionally jiffy pop an entire city.

Was thinking exactly this; only 5 years later then SC2k predicted too.

 

[gamerk2]

Am I missing something? The sun already beams solar power to the surface of the planet, and has done so for billions of years. Most people call this sunlight.

Sunlight gets filtered by the atmosphere; I think the efficiency is only around 30% or so. The idea is to convert solar energy collected in space to some other form that is more easily transmitted through the atmosphere (say, microwaves), then convert it back to electricity at a higher overall efficiency then ground based solar collectors. Also have the side benefit of more consistent collection (no weather concerns).

 

[TheBigT42]

So what happens if a Bird or a Plane fly through the Microwave beam?

 

[GreenNova343]

Sunlight gets filtered by the atmosphere; I think the efficiency is only around 30% or so. The idea is to convert solar energy collected in space to some other form that is more easily transmitted through the atmosphere (say, microwaves), then convert it back to electricity at a higher overall efficiency then ground based solar collectors. Also have the side benefit of more consistent collection (no weather concerns).

And to place solar panels in large enough arrays that they don't cause too much environmental damage -- eliminating reduction in arable farmland (thereby reducing/preventing famines), avoiding wholesale deforestation (which has actually been done for some solar projects), etc.

 

[gamerk2]

And to place solar panels in large enough arrays that they don't cause too much environmental damage -- eliminating reduction in arable farmland (thereby reducing/preventing famines), avoiding wholesale deforestation (which has actually been done for some solar projects), etc.

Right. The idea is solid.

Obvious downside: Giant Space Laser.

 

[p51d007]

Doesn't anyone remember the James Bond movie "Die Another Day"?
From the wiki:

At his ice palace in Iceland, Graves unveils a new orbital mirror satellite, "Icarus", which is able to focus solar energy on a small area and provide year-round sunshine for agriculture.

Giant solar beam to destroy mankind...LOL

 

[OortCloud]

So what happens if a Bird or a Plane fly through the Microwave beam?

If its transmitting enough energy down that microware to provide the same output as a nuclear power station then really bad things I would think.

 

[Kashim]

All this stuff sounds really great in theory, but then a lot of things sound great in theory. Communism, space elevators, traveling to Mars, cold fusion, etc. Now putting them into practice is a whole other ball of wax. They either don't work the same as they did in theory or they simply can't be done. I'll let you decide in which category giant space lasers belong.

My guess is that if they do manage to put a satellite into space that can beam electricity back to earth it will be nowhere near the promised amount or efficiency. I'm thinking more along the lines of 0.1% efficiency or less with promises of incremental improvements over the coming decades. Scientists are quite good at making fantastical claims in order to secure large sums of never ending funding for their pie in the sky projects.

 

[OortCloud]

Another huge issue with this would be space debris and asteroids etc.
Surely a 2km square array of solar panels will get battered given the amount of junk we have chucked up into space? Also a reliance on this would seem very dangerous - especially if you went to war - as knocking out a satellite like this would be easy and would take months to replace?

 

[scavengerspc]

Meanwhile, in America, it's still 1935 and numerous dipshits truly believe the switch away from coal is the end of civilization.

 

[daffy duck]

Am I missing something? The sun already beams solar power to the surface of the planet, and has done so for billions of years. Most people call this sunlight.

The atmosphere absorbs 23% of incoming solar radiation via water vapour, ozone etc, 48% passes through and the rest is reflected by clouds, ice, dust

About 340W/m2 hits the surface. Enough sunlight falls on the earth each second to power the world ~ 10^8 GW.

We need to more efficiently capture it.

Satellites are very small. We need huge solar arrays in space for collecting that could operate in sunshine all the time. How efficient is the conversion to microwaves and then back to electricity compared to conventional solar panels. If solar panels could capture 50% of the solar light and we had better battery tech for storage that would be enormous and relieve the grid demand tremendously. But of course earth has clouds and they ruin solar output from panels, so space based would be ideal but it would take generations for large scale development even if it's viable.

 

[gamerk2]

Another huge issue with this would be space debris and asteroids etc.
Surely a 2km square array of solar panels will get battered given the amount of junk we have chucked up into space? Also a reliance on this would seem very dangerous - especially if you went to war - as knocking out a satellite like this would be easy and would take months to replace?

Simple solution: Don't put the satellite in LEO.

 

[Hodor]

One faulty line in the source code, the beam loses accuracy and completely randomly hits Beijing. Japanese experts work 24-hours a day to fix the problem, but the damn bug stays elusive and completely randomly obliterates Shangai. And then Dongguan. Who could have predicted a harmless experiment would end up so bad...