Japan continues to pursue dream of solar power harvested from space

[bananas]

http://www.energias-renovables.com/energias/renovables/index/pag/pv_solar/colleft//colright/pv_solar/tip/articulo/pagid/16323/botid/71/title/Japan%20continues%20to%20pursue%20dream%20of%20solar%20power%20harvested%20from%20space/

Japan continues to pursue dream of solar power harvested from space
Tuesday, 12 July 2011 Dan McCue

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Against this backdrop, a dedicated band of engineers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), along with corporate, agency and university partners, quietly continue to work on a project that if successful would not only solve Japan’s energy quandary by mid-century, but would undoubtedly revolutionize the entire solar energy sector in the process.

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Hoping to learn more about the project, Renewable Energy Magazine reached out to Tatsuhito Fujita, Associate Senior Engineer with the Advanced Mission Research Group at the Japanese space agency’s Innovative Technology Research Centre, with whom we exchanged questions and answers via email.

“After the accident of the nuclear power plant, interview requests from TV, newspaper and publishing companies have increased remarkably,” Fujita said from his office, which is part of Japan’s Aerospace Research and Development Directorate.

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The first step in bringing the plans to fruition will be either the launch in around 2015 of a satellite fitted with solar panels that will beam electricity to Earth or to the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) of the International Space Station.

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Editor's note: If you are interested in the issue of renewable energies and space, why not check out Ankan Bhattacharya's blog on Renewable Energy Magazine which introduces exactly that topic.

For additional information:
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Astrium
NASA

[WatsonT]

1. That is the most sensible way to go with solar power

no atmospheric interference, no clouds, no need to cover up tremendous areas of the planet. And you can beam it down where it is needed.

It might need a large space truck to put all those panels up and service them in the near future though. Good thing we have the . . . oh . . . right. Needed to save that money to bomb Libya.

[bananas]

2. No maintenance needed

Instead of one gigantic monolithic rigid structure bolted together,
a flock of small autonomous collector satellites are used.
When one fails, just send up a replacement.

http://www.mitsubishielectric.com/bu/space/rd/solarbird/how.html

How SOLARBIRD Works

SOLARBIRD is a solar power generation system based in space. It is possible to build such a system with the serial launching of a number of small power-generating satellites, each of which will have a span of a few hundred meters. As the constellation of satellites grows, the system will eventually be able to generate a significant amount of electrical power. Orbiting in formation, dozens of these small satellites will maintain a geosynchronous orbit, converting solar power into microwaves for transmission to the earth. The resulting system will boast an output equivalent to that of the giant satellite originally envisaged for space-based power generation.

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