In recent years, we have heard again and again about green energy – especially solar energy. Several projects have already been built in Israel, such as the Ashalim power plant – but so far the dispute continues as to whether solar fields are even an efficient enough option for generating electricity, due to the fact that they require covering huge areas of land (or roofs). But a bold plan is trying to solve this struggle in a very bold way: building a huge solar power plant in a place where there is no space limit – in space. We used ChatGPT to understand this crazy vision.
Ali Hajimari, a professor of electrical engineering at Caltech, is at the forefront of a bold effort to build massive solar panels in space. Solar power satellites, each more than a kilometer in diameter, will be placed in high orbit to capture the sun's energy where it always shines. They will consist of modules (i.e. parts) mass-produced by robotic machines, convert solar energy into microwaves and transmit them wirelessly to Earth using large transmitters. On land, these waves will be converted back into electricity using receiving antennas.
According to Hajimiri, a single solar satellite can provide up to 2 gigawatts of energy – an output similar to that of two average nuclear power plants in the US. Unlike solar fields on earth, the production efficiency of such a satellite is much higher, thanks to the fact that outside the atmosphere comes 8 times more solar energy, especially since night and winter do not exist there. Thus, such a satellite can provide energy at a high and constant rate, and each such satellite can also switch to supply electricity to different regions around the world as needed.
Last year, he and his team marked a major milestone when they launched Maple, a 30-centimeter solar prototype equipped with lightweight, flexible transmitters. The experiment supposedly proved itself when energy received and transmitted from one side of the prototype to the other activated two LEDs – but a follow-up experiment of energy transmission to Earth resulted in a very tiny amount of energy, which is not sure if it provides reason for optimism.
However, there are still very significant challenges on the way to realizing this wild vision, first presented in 1941 in the story of legendary writer Isaac Asimov: the construction of structures twice the height of the Burj Khalifa, and more in space, poses unprecedented engineering obstacles. Researchers need to study artificial intelligence and robotics for assembly and maintenance. Regulatory frameworks must address sustainability, the risk of space debris and planning to deal with outdated parts.
Despite the great skepticism, governments and companies around the world express interest and willingness to invest in research on the issue of electricity production in space and its transmission to Earth. Researchers plan a better proof of concept within five or six years, followed by government-sponsored industrialization and scaling.
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