The utilization of solar energy here on Earth continues to grow, offering a clean and renewable alternative to conventional energy sources such as gas and oil. With an increasing number of solar panels converting sunlight into electricity, the potential for harnessing even more energy from the sun is being explored—this time, beyond our planet’s atmosphere.
U.K.-based startup, Space Solar, has embarked on an ambitious endeavor to deploy massive solar arrays in orbit, aiming to transmit gigawatts of clean energy back to Earth, as reported by Interesting Engineering.
Unlike traditional solar panels on Earth, which rely on daylight and can be hindered by cloud cover, space-based solar arrays benefit from uninterrupted exposure to sunlight. Space Solar’s pursuit of this concept, long considered but deemed cost-prohibitive, recently saw a significant breakthrough.
The company has developed a groundbreaking “world-first” 360-degree wireless power transmission system. This innovation enables the space solar array to efficiently transmit energy back to Earth without the need for large rotating joints to maintain alignment.
Paul Bate, chief executive of the U.K. Space Agency, hailed the development, stating, “Safe, wireless, 360-degree energy transmission is a game-changer, and demonstrates the U.K.’s leading position in this new energy revolution, quite literally harnessing the power of space to benefit life on Earth.”
While the technology is still in its nascent stages and far from commercial implementation, this breakthrough signals the potential for cost-effective harvesting of solar energy directly from space.
In a separate development, scientists at Caltech recently demonstrated the feasibility of wirelessly beaming solar energy from space—a milestone achievement in energy innovation. “In the same way that the internet democratized access to information, we hope that wireless energy transfer democratizes access to energy,” remarked one of the scientists involved in the demonstration.