admin Researchers in China have been successful in testing a full-system model of technology that could one day have the potential to wirelessly transmit solar power from outer space to Earth.
The Xidian University in Shaanxi province has a model power station that captures sunlight high above the ground and transforms it into microwave beams. After this, it transmits these microwave beams through the air to a receiver station on the ground, where it can be converted back to electricity. Even though vurrently the model only is only capable of sending energy 55 meters through the air, the researchers are hopeful that the technology could one day be elaborated further to send power from orbiting solar panels to Earth. This project, in its current form, is only able to generate 10 kilowatts, which is only enough to power a few homes. But this is simply a proof-of-concept; this can be later scaled up to become a significant power source.
The University, reported in a press release, that an independent panel of outside experts saw the demonstration of this and consequently verified its success on 5th June.
This advancement in technology has the potential to remove one of the biggest drawback of this clean energy source: its inability to operate in darkness. By putting the panels in orbit where they can avoid Earth’s shadow. Also, there are no clouds in the way, no variation of seasons, no filtering atmospheric presence, and these solar panels can operate at peak efficiency around the clock. Essentially, there is no hindrance of any sort, something that is very much common in traditional solar energy.
One important thing to note here is that China is not the only country trying to make this technology work. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology had launched a space solar program after being awarded a $100 million grant in 2013. Researchers in India, Russia, the UK and France are also exploring these possibilities. In addition to that, Japan is particularly advanced in this field, as per Xidian’s knowledge. This model has been tested before by developing and testing individual components of solar from space technology, the Chinese researchers are the first to have a successfully tested full-system model, Xidian claimed.
Magazine 
