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00:09 Space-based solar panels could operate almost continuously using sunlight
00:13 which is 10 times more intense than on Earth, while avoiding night and bad weather.
00:18 The basic concept is to put solar panels in a high geostationary orbit to produce electricity
00:26 which is converted to microwaves and beamed to Earth receiving stations
00:30 where it is converted back into electricity and fed into the grid.
00:34 This wireless transfer could also allow power to be sent to remote locations on Earth
00:40 and even to the Moon and other planets.
00:43 A single solar power satellite of the planned scale would generate around 2 gigawatts of power
00:49 enough to supply more than 1 million homes.
00:52 It would take more than 6 million solar panels on the Earth's surface to generate the same amount.
00:57 The biggest challenge is the large size of the structures required.
01:01 A single solar power satellite might extend more than a kilometre across
01:06 and weigh thousands of tonnes, with the receiver station covering an area more than 10 times larger.
01:12 For comparison, the International Space Station weighs over 400 tonnes and is 109 metres by 73 metres.
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