The Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstration and Research project will develop a network of satellites with enormous solar panels to harvest energy from the sun and beam it down to earth in the form of radio waves
Daily Mail: Air Force develops new system to harvest solar energy IN SPACE and then beam it down to military bases in remote parts of the world
* The new $100million project will develop a network of solar satellites into orbit
* Energy from the sun will be collected by giant 10,000 square-meter solar panels
* The solar energy will be converted to radio frequencies and then sent to Earth
The Air Force has announced a radical new plan to deliver power to military bases in remote locations or areas that lack stable power sources.
Through a new $100million partnership between with defense contractor Northrop Grumman, the Air Force Research Laboratory will develop a system of satellites with solar panels to harvest solar energy while in orbit around the Earth.
The energy gathered by the satellites will then be converted into radio waves and transmitted to the surface of the Earth where they will be converted back into usable energy.
Read more ....
Update #1: The Air Force Wants To Beam Solar Power From Space Back to Earth (Popular Mechanics)
Update #2: The Air Force Is Trying to Beam Solar Power Down to Earth (Futurism)
WNU Editor: This technology is actually very old. I knew someone who was involved in researching this 25 years ago. The problem is that you lose a lot of energy when you transmit it thereby making it economically not feasible. Maybe they have overcome that hurdle?
5 comments:
A bizarre project that I feel is not cost effective. Just how bloody remote are these bases that they need solar power from SPACE of all things?
In a war, another target in the sky.
Meanwhile, back at the deepening dungpiles in San Francisco and the deepening debt ocean in America....
And, of course, new conspiracy hysteria by the global warming mob, shrieks from the radio waves will end earth set....sigh, to be back to when The Flat Earth Society was king. Or queen. Or in between.
King or queen or in between. I kinda like that. I'd better trademark it.
I think the cost to launch massive payloads is coming down fast and that is making beaming solar energy from space a feasible engineering project. See SpaceX's Star Ship project for example. It is clear Musk is up to his eyeballs working on DOD projects involving all of his go fast products.
I imagine this will be used for very small applications such as special forces deep in hostile territory or establishing new FOBs in remote places where it'll take some time to bring in the generators needed for a more permanent solution. There is an emphasis right now on unloading some of the equipment that has been gradually piled onto infantrymen. One of the solutions has been to develop robots which follow behind a squad and can carry a few hundred pounds up a mountain. Being able to recharge your nightvision, your radios and phones, and these robots without having to lug around a loud generator is probably an important consideration.
Lol. You better.
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