by Dan Cho, Washington, DC/ 11 October 2007/ NewScientist.com news service
A futuristic scheme to collect solar energy on satellites and beam it
to Earth has gained a large supporter in the US military. A report
released yesterday by the National Security Space Office recommends
that the US government sponsor projects to demonstrate
solar-power-generating satellites and provide financial incentives for
further private development of the technology.
Space-based solar power would use kilometre-sized solar panel arrays
to gather sunlight in orbit. It would then beam power down to Earth in
the form of microwaves or a laser, which would be collected in antennas
on the ground and then converted to electricity. Unlike solar panels
based on the ground, solar power satellites placed in geostationary
orbit above the Earth could operate at night and during cloudy
conditions.
"We
think we can be a catalyst to make this technology advance," said US
Marine Corps lieutenant colonel Paul Damphousse of the NSSO at a press
conference yesterday in Washington, DC, US.
The NSSO report (pdf)
recommends that the US government spend $10 billion over the next 10
years to build a test satellite capable of beaming 10 megawatts of
electric power down to Earth.
Abundant energy source
....
More: Beam solar power from space
