Breakthrough Experiment Beams Solar Power From Space
The California Institute of Technology has been hard at work exploring the prospect of harvesting solar power from space. A new experiment just confirmed that it can be wirelessly transferred back to Earth, opening the door to a new frontier in renewable energy.
Caltech launched its Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1) in January of this year as part of the university's Space Solar Power Project (SSPP). The initiative aims to gather and harvest solar power in space and transmit it to the surface of the Earth to demonstrate the possibilities this technology would allow. Space-based harvesters are estimated to potentially yield eight times more power than solar panels anywhere on the planet thanks to 24/7 sunlight and freedom from clouds or weather.
The key part of the process is the SSPD-1's Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment (MAPLE), which consists of several flexible and lightweight microwave power transmitters that collect solar power and send it elsewhere. It was proven effective after the instrument wirelessly transmitted energy gathered from space to the roof of the Gordon and Betty Moore Laboratory of Engineering on Caltech’s campus in Pasadena. It was also shown to be able to withstand the harsh conditions of space like exposure to solar radiation and drastic temperature changes.
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Caltech hopes that SSPP will eventually consist of a network of spacecraft collecting sunlight throughout space, transforming it into electricity, and turning it into microwaves to be beamed over large distances, including back to Earth. In the future, this could come in handy for regions of the globe that lack energy infrastructure.
Dr. Ali Hajimiri, who led the team behind MAPLE's creation, thinks the possibilities with this technology are endless. "In the same way that the internet democratized access to information, we hope that wireless energy transfer democratizes access to energy," he said in a statement. "No energy transmission infrastructure will be needed on the ground to receive this power. That means we can send energy to remote regions and areas devastated by war or natural disaster."
The technology is far from being deployed on a commercial scale, but if continued experiments prove successful, a new age of energy consumption could eventually be upon us.