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Japan to build a mega solar power project in space
By siliconindia
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Monday, 07 September 2009, 19:31 IST
Bangalore: A major milestone in solar power transmission is being developed by Japan, which plans to build a $21 billion solar power project in space, reports BusinessGreen.com. Japan expects the power station to start transmitting solar energy to earth from 36,000 km above the earth's surface within the next 30 years.
The project to be supported by the Japanese Government will include the construction of a solar space station comprising four square km of solar panels with a total capacity of one gigawatt (GW), which can supply electricity to 294,000 homes in Tokyo. Over the next four years, the project will focus on developing technology that will send the electricity generated by the orbiting solar panels back to Earth in the form of microwaves.
In 2015, Japan plans to launch a small satellite fitted with solar panels, which will be used to test the effectiveness with which the technology can beam electricity from space through the atmosphere. The station is expected to be fully operational in the 2030s. "It sounds like a science fiction cartoon, but solar power generation in space may be a significant alternative energy source in the century ahead as fossil fuel disappears," said Kensuke Kanekiyo, Managing Director of government think-tank Institute of Energy Economics.
Advocates of space solar projects point out that solar energy at the edge of the earth's atmosphere is estimated to be 10 times greater than on the surface, as there is no atmospheric or cloud interference. The project is being led by the Japanese Trade Ministry and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, with participation by a research group representing 16 businesses.
There is a doubt in the minds of analysts if the project will be commercially viable looking at the costs involved. "Transporting panels to the planned solar station will be prohibitively expensive, so Japan needs to find a way to reduce costs to make it commercially viable," said Hiroshi Yoshida, Chief Executive of Excalibur, a Tokyo-based space and defense policy consultancy.
