The solar discs that could beam power from space - BBC News

It sounds like science fiction: giant solar power stations floating in space that beam down enormous amounts of energy to Earth.

The Earth’s atmosphere also absorbs and reflects some of the Sun’s light, so solar cells above the atmosphere will receive more sunlight and produce more energy.

In 2017, researchers at the California Institute of Technology outlined designs for a modular power station, consisting of thousands of ultralight solar cell tiles.

We are exploring how to embed solar cells on sail structures to create large, fuel-free power stations.

While we are currently reliant on materials from Earth to build power stations, scientists are also considering using resources from space for manufacturing, such as materials found on the Moon.

The plan is to convert electricity from the solar cells into energy waves and use electromagnetic fields to transfer them down to an antenna on the Earth’s surface.

There is still a lot of work to be done in this field, but the aim is that solar power stations in space will become a reality in the coming decades.

To produce that much power with solar panels on Earth, you would need more than six million of them.

Across the globe, the scientific community is committing time and effort to the development of solar power stations in space.

Amanda Jane Hughes is a lecturer in energy engineering at the University of Liverpool, where her research includes the design of solar cells and optical instruments.