Here on Earth, the use of solar energy — a clean, renewable alternative to dirty energy sources like gas and oil — is on the rise, with an ever-increasing number of solar panels that harvest energy from the sun and turn it into electricity.
However, there may be a way to harvest even more energy from the sun by meeting it where it lives: in outer space. One U.K.-based startup, Space Solar, is attempting to place massive solar arrays in orbit to deliver gigawatts of clean energy back to our home planet, Interesting Engineering reported.
Earth-bound solar panels, like the ones you might install on your roof or see in a field — are limited to harvesting solar energy during the day, when the sun is shining, and can also be hampered by cloud cover.
By contrast, in space, sunlight is virtually uninterrupted. This led Space Solar to pursue the idea, which has been considered for a while but is largely seen as cost-prohibitive.
Recently, the company achieved a breakthrough by developing a "world-first" 360-degree wireless power transmission system. This system would allow the space solar array to transmit energy back to Earth without needing large rotating joints to continuously align the array.
"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," Paul Bate, chief executive of the U.K. Space Agency, said.
While the technology is still far from being implemented on a commercial scale, this breakthrough shows that it may be possible to harvest solar energy directly from space cost-effectively.
Recently, Caltech scientists showed that beaming solar energy wirelessly from space is indeed possible in a first-of-its-kind demonstration. "In the same way that the internet democratized access to information, we hope that wireless energy transfer democratizes access to energy," said one of the scientists behind the demonstration.
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