China seems to want to continue advancing in the current “space race” and although months ago it managed to land its Zhurong rover on Mars , now it seems that it wants to go further and is already considering building a giant solar power plant in space.
China wants to build a giant solar power plant in space
According to a recent report by the South China Morning Post, China appears to intend to build a large solar power plant in space. All this was possible thanks to a technology that would allow it to collect large amounts of solar energy at any time of the day.
The tests will be carried out initially in the city of Chongqing in southwest China, and subsequently the goal is to build a 1 megawatt solar power plant in space by 2030 . Building this $ 15.4 million test facility in the city of Chongqing has long been one of China’s goals. In fact, it was stopped three years ago due to heated debates about the cost, feasibility and safety of the project.
The project was recently discussed again and is expected to be completed later this year. The idea is also not recent, as scientists first proposed plans for a solar space station in the 1960s . The goal is to build a geostationary solar panel station that can avoid Earth’s shadow and see direct sunlight 24 hours a day so that energy harvesting is constant.
In space, a power plant can also collect more electricity , as the Earth’s atmosphere reflects or absorbs almost half of the energy from sunlight before it reaches the solar panels installed on the ground. After the power plant builds up the power of our star, it would send this energy back to Earth with minimal loss (about 2%).
Researchers at the test facility in China will first try to demonstrate whether this wireless power transfer actually works over the required long distances. To begin with, in fact, several experiments are going to be carried out using airships and hot air balloons to radiate energy in high-frequency microwave rays on Earth.
So far they have already had success with tests conducted from 300 meters above the ground using a hot air balloon and their goal is to conduct 20 km range experiments using an airship after construction of the facility is complete.
The technology experimental zone will be approximately 2 hectares (2,000 square meters) and will be surrounded by a clearing zone five times larger. Local residents will not be able to enter this area for their own safety, as explained by the district government. Much remains to be resolved, such as the potential effects of such a high-frequency energy beam on communications, air traffic, and the well-being of nearby residents. However, if the researchers behind the project succeed, they will have overcome the limitations of solar energy by literally sending it beyond the stratosphere.
