Japan’s public-private partnership plans to test space solar power transmission technology in 2025

News on May 29, after decades of research, Japan and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are committed to exploring the possibility of transmitting solar energy from space.

The concept of orbiting solar panels and microwaves to deliver energy to the earth was proposed in 1968. The appeal of orbital solar panels is that they represent a potentially unlimited supply of renewable energy. Solar panels in space can collect energy day and night, and use microwaves to transmit power without clouds posing any problems.

In 2015, Japan made a breakthrough. JAXA scientists successfully transmitted 1.8 kilowatts of power to a wireless receiver more than 50 meters away, equivalent to a The energy required by the kettle. Now, Japan is ready to take this technology to the next level.

According to the Nikkei report, a partnership between the Japanese government and private companies plans to begin trials of transmitting solar energy from space in 2025. Professor Naoki Shinohara of Kyoto University has been leading the project since 2009, focusing on studying space solar energy. The project aims to place a constellation of small satellites in orbit and then use the solar energy collected by these satellites to transmit energy to a receiving station hundreds of miles away on the ground.

However, there are still some challenges in realizing this technology. Even if Japan successfully deploys an array of orbiting solar panels, creating an array capable of producing 1 gigawatt of electricity (equivalent to the output of a nuclear reactor) would require an investment of approximately $7 billion (approximately $494.9 billion) based on currently available technology. billion yuan).

Japan strives to seek alternatives to traditional energy sources, promote sustainable development, and contribute to future energy supplies. The development of space solar energy transmission technology will bring huge potential and opportunities to the global energy field. We will continue to pay attention to developments and breakthroughs in this field and look forward to witnessing the huge impact of technology on the energy revolution.

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