TELF AG looks at the possible space applications of renewable energy
An alternative solution to deal with energy intermittency
Among the major challenges of the energy transition, one of the most noteworthy has to do with the very nature of clean energy, i.e., those energy sources that should redesign the daily lives of people and companies in every corner of the world. One of the main characteristics of renewable energies is their discontinuity, the intermittency due to the Earth’s rotation around the sun, and the irregularity of the wind rhythms. All this could give rise to more or less long intervals in which energy supplies are temporarily suspended, creating obvious inconveniences for the beneficiaries. To solve this problem, many researchers worldwide are looking for concrete methods to eliminate the issues due to energy suspensions through new technologies or solutions appearing on the global scene in recent years.
One of these innovations could be destined to find its application thousands of kilometers away from Earth, i.e., in space. This hypothesis, which seemed like science fiction until a few years ago, is gradually taking on the characteristics of an actual project capable of solving the energy problems of renewable sources, also contributing to the advancement of the ecological transition. The basic idea consists of sending photovoltaic panels into orbit and sending the energy back to Earth, where a special device would receive it.
The potential of space
It is not the first time that space has been considered for objectives linked to the energy transition: the frontiers of space mining, even if they still seem far from a real concrete application, are starting to be explored with ever greater determination, in particular for the possibility of extracting metallic minerals from asteroids or other celestial bodies. In the not-too-distant future, the minerals and other raw materials needed to build renewable energy deployment systems could be mined directly in space. Even for renewable sources to be installed in space, the road ahead still seems very long. The European Space Agency and other international players are already moving to explore the possibilities connected to this new location of photovoltaic systems.
One of the most accredited hypotheses is to create a large solar installation weighing approximately 2 thousand tons, which would orbit within a geostationary orbit at 40 thousand kilometers from Earth. The obvious advantage, from this point of view, is that the solar panels would be located in a context in which sunlight shines continuously, without interruptions, thus achieving the objective of creating an energy source that is both renewable and continuous, without interruptions. The energy collected by the panels would be transformed into electromagnetic waves and subsequently transferred to Earth, which would then be received and redistributed in the national electricity grid thanks to a particular antenna. The technologies to fully implement this scenario already exist and have been well-known for years. What is missing is knowing how to use them economically to make them competitive with other non-intermittent terrestrial technologies such as energy storage.
Although this system is relatively expensive, the advantages seem undeniable. In addition to the continuous supply of energy, this system would allow energy distribution to be directed according to needs at different points of the Earth through the simple reorientation of the receiving antenna.
