Last year, top-level European science and technology ministers met in Paris to debate future goals for the European Space Agency (ESA), of which the UK is still a member even after Brexit. One item on their agenda was to discuss a proposal for evaluating the feasibility of building commercial power stations in space. Large satellites would gather sunlight and turn it into energy, which would then be beamed back to Earth and contribute to the power system. The Solaris project, as it is named, seeks to assess whether this notion has the potential to contribute to Europes future energy security or whether it remains an impossible concept.Space science and solar powerIf permitted, the research would be a return to the space industrys roots, which have traditionally been at the forefront of solar power development. After the Russians launched the battery-powered Sputnik 1 in 1957, the US came up with a mission a year later, Vanguard 1. This was the fourth spacecraft in orbit and the first to use solar energy to power itself. Since then, adopting solar panels as the principal energy source for spacecraft has fueled studies in this sector. Only 9% of the captured sunlight was converted into electricity by the solar cells on Vanguard 1. Possibly the most cost-efficient energy source for future generationsAccording to Jochen Latz, a management consulting firm McKinsey & Company partner, the cost of solar energy has been falling quicker than most industry players projected over the last two decades. As a result, solar power has become the most cost-effective means of generating electricity in nations such as Australia and the Middle East. Latz thinks that this will also be true as technology advances in other countries. He predicts that by 2050, solar power will offer more than 40% of the European Unions energy, assuming that countries meet their commitments, making it Europes largest contributor to energy supply.What are the challengesHowever, certain obstacles must be overcome in order to maximise the utilisation of solar panels on Earth. Starting with basic questions like, how to get solar energy at night time Ned Ekins-Daukes, an associate professor at the University of New South Wales, and his colleagues created a solar cell that generates electricity by emitting infrared radiation rather than absorbing sunlight. This is especially important at night since the Earth accumulates solar energy as heat and releases it back into space as infrared radiation.While solar power has become more affordable, it still has limitations, such as cloud cover and insufficient battery storage capacity. Experts forecast that the European Union will require 200 GW of battery storage by 2030, while only 2.4 GW was in place as of 2021. Car-to-grid (V2G) is one option that uses an electric cars battery to store extra energy generated by rooftop solar panels and then transfers it back into the home or even sells it to the National Grid during peak demand. Participants in a V2G trial in Milton Keynes saved money and lowered their carbon impact. Another approach is to use solar power to manufacture sustainable vehicle fuels rather than electricity. Cambridge University researchers have created an “artificial leaf” inspired by photosynthesis that generates syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that can be used to manufacture a variety of fuels. They propose recycling CO2 from the atmosphere or industrial processes into sustainable fuels, creating a circular carbon economy.
