A New Lightweight, Foldable Satellite Could Deliver Constant Solar Energy to Earth.mp4

Amaze Lab

Solar Power is essentially unlimited energy from the Sun, but there’s just one problem, it’s only beaming down from space for half the day. But now researchers have developed a way to gather solar energy around the clock via a satellite in space and then beam that energy back to Earth for use.

Transcript

00:00Solar power is essentially unlimited energy from the Sun but there's just one problem it's only

00:09beaming down from space for half the day but now researchers have developed a way to gather solar

00:14energy around the clock via a satellite in space and then beam that energy back to earth for use

00:19and the team with the space solar power project at Caltech say they've just had their first

00:24successful energy transfer with maple or the microwave array for power transfer low orbit

00:29experiment an array of microwave transmitters built from silicon solar harvesting cells each

00:34of the energy beaming satellites must be lightweight and foldable as it must be launched into space

00:38cost effectively these satellites only weigh around 110 pounds and are folded up to fit in

00:43a 35 foot cubed space then unfurling in space into a 164 foot diameter orbiter and now one

00:50of these micro satellites has been able to beam power from space down to earth despite having

00:54no moving parts here's what the researchers have to say about the wireless energy transfer

00:59endeavor in the same way that the internet democratized access to information we hope

01:03that wireless energy transfer democratizes access to energy no energy transmission infrastructure

01:08will be needed on the ground to receive this power that means we can send energy to remote

01:12local regions and areas devastated by war or natural disaster

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