The European Space Agency ( ESA ) will consider the viability of a gigantic solar farm in space at a meeting this workweek in Paris . If approved , a three - class study will begin on whether such a farm would be potential , price - effective , and be capable to wirelessly “ balance beam ” the energy back to Earth .
While the theme is certainly not newfangled , it is often pop the question as a construct but has never really made it off the ground – should the discipline do back positive , it could be the first metre functionary actually adjudicate the bold plan .
TheSOLARISinitiative would lay the groundwork for a potential conclusion to begin development of the farm in 2025 , according to ESA . Such a project would aim to address the inherent limitations of solar zip on Earth , such as how energy can not be produced during dark or under expectant clouds , by plainly taking the solar cells above the atmosphere . It would massively increase the efficiency of the cells , with sunlight being around ten time more vivid up in space ( thanks atmosphere ) , and could be the answer needed to reach the European Net Zero toast by 2050 .
Of course , we have been using solar panels in space for decades , so this is certainly not an innovative idea ; the slippery part arises in getting that energy back down to Earth .
The source aim and lead theme on how ESA would do it is via 2.45 GHz microwaves . The energy would be accept from the photovoltaic cell and transmitted over microwaves down to receiver stations on Earth , call off ‘ rectennas ’ , which would then convert it back to electricity and feed it to the grid .
The best part is , once the power station is up and run , the target does n’t ask to be Earth – when humans finally make it to Moon colonisation , power could be sent there too .
Going through with SOLARIS would cement Europe as a “ key musician – and potentially loss leader – in the outside subspecies towards scalable clean energy solutions ” , writesESA .
Some challenges still need addressing : right now , both the satellite and the receiver station would need to be very , very magnanimous ; and the price of many rocket salad launches to build something that weighs thousands of wads in orbit would be astronomical . However , it could still be importantly cheaper than current resolution for the same level of muscularity end product .
