Queen’s scientists are playing a key role in a plan to harvest solar energy in space before beaming it back to earth.
A prototype, they say, “has been successfully demonstrated in a world-first at Queen’s Centre for Wireless Innovation ”. The University states: “The economics work, experts say, because a solar panel in space produces more than a dozen times the amount of renewable energy than the same panel on earth. This is because of the greater light intensity, caused by the absence of clouds, atmosphere and ‘night time’.
Queen’s say the “fundamental research for this aspect of the technology, has been more than ten years in development at CWI”. Lead researcher from Queen’s CWI, Dr Neil Buchanan said: “The technology will undoubtedly require a high, initial investment. Sending rockets into space is obviously pretty expensive although the price has come down significantly in the past decade.
Martin Soltau, co-CEO of Solar Space Ltd said: “We value hugely our close partnership with Queen’s and together, in just six months, we have delivered this world-first demonstration of 360° power-beam steering, which is a core requirement for the operational power satellite.