Britain plans to build a solar power plant in Earth orbit

Britain government in space Solar power plant considers the construction. According to calculations, such a project 21 billion dollars can cost. In addition, such a project will be delivered to Britain by 2050 greenhouse gases may help reduce secretion to zero. “New technologies make the idea of ​​building a solar power plant in space a reality. Solar energy will be collected in space and It will be sent to earth. ” University of Portsmouth representative Jovana Radulovic noted. Space Solar Power Plant From solar panels will be in the form of a giant spacecraft. These panels, in turn, collect solar energy after it radio waves will transmit to the ground antenna in the form of. As a result, the ground antenna will convert the radio waves into electricity and transmit them to the power grid. “It’s a power plant,” he said 24 hours will be engaged in the production of electricity during. These are surface solar panels snowThis is a great advantage, ”Radulovic added. Such a space solar power plant is planned to be commissioned in 2040. Production of all components of the power plant and commissioning 21 billion will cost $.

The size of the ground antenna, which will receive solar energy in the form of radio waves, will be quite large. Its planned size is 6.7-13 km. Space Solar Power Plant to Earth 2 gigawatts is expected to transmit electricity in the amount of It should be noted for comparison that, the total amount of electricity currently produced in the UK 76 gigawatts contane. Britain According to the government, the project will require private investment. So. that, project cost 21 billion dollars contane. “According to forecasts, the demand for electricity by 2050 50% will rise. That’s it according to In turn, space solar energy can play a leading role in meeting growing demand, ”Radulovic said. But there are some nuances in this project and There are also difficulties. The space solar power plant has a modular design. All the important elements of the station will be collected by robots in Earth orbit. However, these elements must first be delivered to space. This, in turn, is not a cheap process. In addition, given that there will be a large number of flight missions, they can be harmful to the environment.

It was noted in the report that, power plant with other problems as well snowwill swell. So. that, Solar panels that will be available at the power plant can be damaged by space debris. However, the Earth’s atmosphere will not protect the power plant. And that means that, the power plant is more active To the sun’s rays will be exposed. Therefore, the solar panels of the power plant will soon be out of order and this will reduce the amount of electricity generated. “In addition, the issue of energy delivery from orbit to Earth needs to be addressed. Modern technologies can deliver only a small part of energy. We still need to find a solution to this issue, “Radulovic added. According to Radulovic, it is unknown whether such a project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero in Britain by 2050. Nevertheless, the project is one of the first steps in this direction.