Iceland might be the first place in the world to gather solar energy from space via a satellite that would then beam 30 megawatts of energy back down to Earth—enough to power anywhere from 1,500 to 3,000 homes.
The project, a partnership between Reykjavík Energy, an Icelandic sustainability group called Transition Labs, and a British startup called Space Solar, plans to launch a massive 70.5-ton, 1,312-foot-wide satellite into space where it would float around in a medium Earth orbit. Once there, they will collect sunlight with zero interruption from day-night cycles.
The joint venture plans to have six of these satellites in space by 2036, which will collectively deliver 15 gigawatts of continuous energy to multiple countries. Solar energy has been making huge strides back here on Earth as solar and battery power combined fuel around 80% of new US electricity capacity in 2024.
If it all goes off without a hitch, the pilot plant would cost around $800 million and the energy it produces would be around $2.25 billion per gigawatt. That would make it even cheaper than nuclear power.
One of the reasons this whole project would even be feasible is because it would use Space X ships for transport since they can carry enormous loads for a surprisingly affordable cost. The energy the satellites capture will be transmitted to on-the-ground stations in the form of high-frequency radio waves which are then converted to electricity. That electricity is then integrated into power grids, after which it finally reaches homes and businesses.
The technology sounds incredible but there’s still a ways to go. Current testing has only achieved milliwatts of power transfer, for instance. But the foundations for capturing a constant stream of solar energy and transferring it down to Earth are all there. It’s so attainable that countries like Japan and China are also in the early stages of exploring a future of using energy from space to fuel their cities.
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