The U.K. company, Space Solar, plans to use its CASSIOPeiA satellite to harvest the sun's energy which it will beam down to Earth.
The U.K. based aerospace company, Space Solar, plans to launch its space-based solar power plant by 2030 to deliver clean energy to Iceland, which is already a renewable-energy powerhouse.The U.K. company, Space Solar, plans to use its CASSIOPeiA satellite to harvest the sun's energy, which it will beam down to Earth. The first commercial enterprise the energy of sunlight in space and beam it to the ground may happen in Iceland as the country strives toward clean energy production.
The appeal is the availability of sunlight in space, where satellites in the proper orbit can be exposed to the sun 24/7, providing reliable energy no matter what the conditions are like on Earth. The main obstacle to putting this technology to use has been cost. The solar satellites must be huge. Space Solar's concept satellite would weigh 2,000 tonnes and stretch 1.7 kilometres wide. Other companies designs are much larger.
Its large carrying capacity would mean fewer launches to build the giant structure. But even the more environmentally friendly, non-toxic combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen that Starship uses as fuel, still converts into carbon dioxide and water vapour when burned, and those are both greenhouse gases.
The other half of the space power system is on the ground where a large receiver, called a rectenna, absorbs the microwave beam and turns it into electricity. One big question is how the cost of space solar power will compare to conventional alternatives. Space Solar says its electricity cost would be similar to intermittent renewables, such as wind or ground solar power.There is no shortage of clean energy in Iceland, a country that sits on top of active volcanos. There is an unlimited source of geothermal heat just below ground, which Iceland is already putting to good use.The country is a pioneer in geothermal space heating.
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