Solar Energy

Eco-Electricity from Space Solar Satellite

Clouds can be a problem for solar energy, reducing the sunlight and the night hides the sunlight away, but what if we placed a terrestrial solar-energy satellite equivalent to the size of the International Space Station (ISS) above the clouds or built solar stations on the moon? Then we can produce electricity from renewable sources 24 hours a day, which is freed from changing weather conditions and we can abolish the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power plants for good.

The US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has tested two prototypes of what it calls a ‘sandwich’ module. One side receives solar energy into PV panels and the electronic circuitry in the middle converts the electric current produced from the PV cells to a microwave frequency.

The other side of the sandwich’s antenna beams a 2.45 GHz microwave frequency to a particular receiver station only, which asks for it from a specific location on the ground.

So far, the terrestrial solar-energy satellite is the cheapest source of energy and has enormous potential for the future. If the electricity companies invest in this future technology instead of nuclear power plants, then they will make even more money out of it and become Eco-friendly.

One solar satellite station can give electricity to one million houses for 24 hours a day and costs $1 billion; it is much cheaper than any nuclear power plant or fossil fuels and much safer for the environment. The Shimizu Corporation in Japan announced plans to build a solar strip across 11,000 miles of the moon and to transfer energy through microwaves and laser light to the earth. The future is bright for energy from the sun and there is no need for non-renewable, polluting energy sources.

Eco-Electricity from Solar Energy

The sun’s hourly radiation of free energy exceeds the consumption of 7.5 billion humans in a year. Still, with all that technology at our disposal, less than 1% of the energy used worldwide comes from solar power.

The desert receives solar energy on each square kilometre which is equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of fossil fuel. Moreover, if we multiply the solar energy received by the area of all deserts worldwide, the results would be that the solar power produced in one hour over the deserts would provide hundreds of times more than the whole world uses in a year. In simple terms, the deserts could produce much more solar energy than could be produced by petroleum.

Solar technology varies from the basic, mono-crystalline photovoltaic (PV) cells, which are 15% efficient, to the multi-junction concentrators, which are 44% efficient. There is also the theoretical 95%+ efficient pentacene-based PV cells, which are now very expensive, but mass production will make them much cheaper and able to compete with the traditional sources of energy.

Another type of solar power is the heliostat, which is a reflector mirror concentrating the sun to boil oil, generating steam and driving turbines to produce electricity more cost-effectively. Hence, there is no need for gas-fired power stations that pollute the environment.

Producing electricity during the day needs storage batteries so it may be used at night, instead of feeding the power grid and repurchasing it when needed. Moreover, there is no reason to create added taxes like the ‘green tax levy’ in the UK to subsidize the electricity companies for loss of income from supplying less power.

Most of the solar panels are stationary. However, by adding stepper motors controlled by a computer program, the solar panels will rotate and track the sun to increase their electricity output by 32%. There are diverse types and they are more-efficient systems that require less land and investment to generate higher output, especially when using a sun-tracking heliostat tower structure that uses mirrors as light collectors reflecting the beam to a solar tower.

There are many applications for the heliostat, depending on its design and this ranges from producing light, electricity, heat and a fiery furnace that reaches 3,500°C to melting glass, iron or other materials. So, there is a way to replace the burning of fossil fuels to generate high temperatures and avoid polluting the environment.

A small heliostat could be designed as a solar-power-tower system, fit on the rooftop of a commercial building instead of occupying hundreds of acres and generate electricity to heat or cool a building. A large heliostat can supply electricity to a community, village, city or power plant.

To utilize the electricity day and night, efficient thermal- energy-storage technology, such as molten-salt storage, molten silicon technology or an equivalent, will be required.