Unlimited solar electricity from outer space!

It is amazing to watch how apparently small scientific inventions of the past turned into multibillion dollar industries later. The first electric light was created by Sir Humphry Davy in 1802 by passing a current through a platinum strip. It did not last long but heralded the beginning of the light bulbs. 

Indian physicist Jagadish Chandra Bose, born in what is now Bangladesh, first demonstrated the wireless transmission of electromagnetic waves in Kolkata in 1894. It travelled only a few yards through a couple of walls. Bose was least interested in patenting or commercialisation of his invention. He made his invention public for the benefit of humankind. Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi improved it further and patented it in 1897 for commercial purpose. Today, electromagnetic waves are used in radio, television and many other forms of communications including satellite or space communications. Electromagnetic wave based communications constitute one of the largest industries in the world.

The Wright brothers' first flight in a gasoline-powered, propeller-driven plane took place near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. It lasted only 12 seconds and covered a distance of 120 feet. Today, a large commercial aircraft can carry over 850 passengers and fly non-stop 15,700 km. On an average, 20,000 commercial planes fly every day and carry an estimated 4 million passengers. This gives an idea about the size of today's aviation industry.

I could not fail to remember their inventions plus many others when I read a recent news piece under the headline: "Wirelessly transmitted electric power in Japan." Japanese researchers have successfully transmitted electric power wirelessly to a pinpoint target using microwaves, an advance technology that brings space-based solar power closer to reality. According to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or Jaxa, the researchers were able to transform 1.8 kilowatts of electric power into microwaves and transmit it with accuracy into a receiver located 55 meters away. In an experiment conducted in Hyogo prefecture in western Japan, the microwaves were successfully converted into direct electrical current. The experiment was the first of its kind in the world to send out high-output microwaves wirelessly to a small target, a Jaxa spokesman said.

This is a major breakthrough, perhaps as exciting and promising as any of the inventions I mentioned above. When exploited commercially, both the amount of energy and the distance of journey will expand exponentially with time. This invention is likely to begin a new era of generation of unlimited electricity in the outer space using solar energy which will be transmitted wirelessly in the form of microwaves to individual houses or load centres on the planet. It is not difficult to visualise innumerable solar power plants in outer space circling the earth in geostationary orbits, about 35,000 kilometres from Earth, and transmitting electrical energy in bulk quantities with pinpoint accuracy and without any impact on the environment. There will be no need to operate fossil fuel based power plants which have been polluting the environment and causing global warming. Similarly, there will be no need to mar the aesthetics of our countryside with thousands of miles of transmission and distribution lines.

We will need just an antenna or a satellite dish on our roofs to receive the microwaves direct from one of the solar panels in the outer space. We will also need a device for conversion of the microwaves into electrical power to illuminate the houses, to run the air-conditioning systems and to operate the electrical appliances. Since the sun does not set in the outer space, the space-based solar panels will be able to generate electricity without any interruption and without being affected by weather conditions. The plants are likely to have a long operating life and will have no fuel cost and practically no operation and maintenance cost. The main cost will comprise of the initial investment in launching the power plants into space. If it is possible to bring this cost to a reasonable level, the space based solar electricity is likely to be economically competitive with other forms of electricity in course of time.

When it will happen is anybody's guess but researchers at Jaxa "are aiming for practical use in the 2030s." We must remember that scientific and technological developments are taking place at a much faster rate than ever before. No one should, therefore, be surprised if electricity in commercial quantities begins to flow from outer space in a matter of decades!
 

The writer is a retired nuclear engineer.