Thursday 16 April 2020

Solar power stations outside Earth


Solar panel arrays are being used to power space stations for a long time, but harnessing energy from outer space is still at beginning stage. In Earth solar panel arrays are used to harness electric energy during the day time. A huge portion of solar energy is lossed due to reflection and absorption by the atmosphere.

Solar energy has to be stored in battery to backup for times when sunlight is not available . If space based solar stations are successful then we can harness solar energy for 24/7. In 2015 Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA) transmitted 1.8 kilowatts of energy across a distance of 55 meter using microwaves. Safety protocols for transmitting such waves should be taken into consideration by the nations.



There is still a long way to go to achieve this but if proper resources are available then space based solar stations can provide remote electricity to anywhere on Earth.