The plan comprises a solar station satellite – a huge spacecraft furnished with solar panels. The government of the UK is taking into consideration a £16 billion proposal for manufacturing a solar power station in space. Yeah, you read it rightly. Space-based solar power is considered to be one of the technologies for featuring in the government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. It has been investigated as a potential solution, alongside others, to enable the UK for obtaining net zero by the year 2050. But how will a solar power station in space perform? What are the pros and cons of this technology?
Solar power that is based on space has to collect solar energy in space and send it to Earth. Meanwhile, the idea itself is not the latest; some recent technological renovations have made this prospect more attainable.
The solar power system which is based in space has a solar power satellite – the largest spacecraft that is possessed solar panels. These panels act electrically and produce energy that is then sent to Earth wirelessly via radio frequency of high-frequency. A ground antenna, known as a rectenna and is utilized for altering the radio waves into electricity, which is then sent to the power grid.
A solar power station that is based on space in orbit is dazzled by the Sun for about a full 24 hours in a day and could therefore able to produce electricity fastly. It depicts a lead over terrestrial solar power systems [systems on Earth], which can be able enough for producing electricity only during the day and rely on the weather.
With the demands for global energy projected to hike by nearly 50 percent by the year 2050, solar power that is based on space could be the key to assist meet the growing demand in the energy sector of the world and solving the issue of a global rise in temperature.
