Gathering solar energy above the clouds and sending it back to Earth has been on scientists’ minds for decades. Now the plan has taken a large step toward reality.
The idea is to send high-efficiency solar collectors into space, have them convert the solar energy they make into radio waves, then beam the energy waves back to targets on the ground.
Now defense contractor Northrup Grumman has delivered its first copy of “Helios” to the U.S. Air Force. Helios is the platform that will ferry and house all of the works that will collect, convert, and transmit the harvested energy.
By tasking Northrup to design and build a “space truck,” the Air Force not only freed its limited resources for the project to focus on developing the venture’s energy-related technologies; it also has created a supplier of off-the-shelf space trucks, which can be bought at a lower price than if the Air Force made its own.
Helios is scheduled to tote its first package of solar energy collectors, converters, and transmitters into orbit in 2024.
TRENDPOST: Demand for electricity is rising relentlessly as the human race multiplies. However, ground-based renewable energy systems can’t yet guarantee a steady supply of power. A space-based alternative could gather and send renewable solar power all day, every day, as a handy supplement that could send a steady stream of power to high-volume users such as server farms and military intelligence centers.
Credit for photo: U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory
