Is Space-Based Solar a Good Idea?

Dr Ben Miles
28 Apr 202419:21

Summary

TLDR1941年にアイザモフが発表した物語をもとに、2024年現在、オックスフォードのスタートアップ「Space Solar」は太陽から収集したエネルギーを無線で地球に送信する計画を立てています。2GWの衛星を22,000マイルの高空に設置し、24時間清潔なエネルギーを供給する。地球のエネルギーニーズに応えるため、太陽エネルギーを宇宙で効率的に活用する方法が注目されています。コスト削減と技術進歩により、宇宙型太陽光発電は経済的で実現可能になり、将来的には地上の太陽光発電所や風力発電所を上回る力を供給する見込みです。

Takeaways

  • 📚 1941年にアイザック・アシモフは、宇宙ステーションが太陽エネルギーを集めて地球に無線で送る短編小説を発表しました。
  • 🚀 2024年現在、オックスフォードのスタートアップ「Space Solar」は、2kmの2GWの衛星を使って地球にクリーンなエネルギーを24時間供給する計画を立てています。
  • 🌟 太陽エネルギーは21世紀のエネルギーニーズを満たすための素晴らしい長期的なクリーンエネルギー源です。
  • 📉 ソーラーパネルのコストは過去数十年で大幅に低下し、特にドイツのフィードインタリフ制度が市場価格の2倍を支払うことで需要を刺激しました。
  • 💰 宇宙への打ち上げコストも、SpaceXのStarshipなどによる低コスト打ち上げ技術の発展により劇的に低下しています。
  • 🛰️ Space Solarは1.7kmの直径を持つ宇宙型太阳光発電ステーションを建て、60,000枚の太陽電池パネルを用いて太陽光を集めます。
  • 🔄 宇宙から地球へエネルギーを無線で送信する技術は、相位制御されたエネルギービームを用いて実現可能となりました。
  • 📡 地上のアンテナ配列は、受け取りエリアの1/10程度のスペースしか必要としません。
  • 🌐 地球の曲線による影響を考慮し、システムは海上に設置され、6km×13kmのエリアを占有すると予想されています。
  • 🛑 安全性については、ビームの誤った方向への偏差が検出されると、自動的にビームの供給が停止するように設計されています。
  • 🌡️ 太陽光発電の効率は約18%であり、地上の太陽光発電所の1%と比較して大幅に高効率です。

Q & A

  • Isaac Asimovが1941年に発表した短編小説で描いた宇宙ステーションのエネルギー伝送方法とは何ですか?

    -Isaac Asimovの短編小説では、宇宙ステーションが太陽から集めたエネルギーを無線で地球に伝える方法を描いています。これは、焦点を当てたマイクロ波束を使って行われます。

  • Space Solarというスタートアップはどこに拠点を置いていますか?

    -Space Solarというスタートアップは、イギリスのオックスフォードに拠点を置いています。

  • Space Solarの計画では、どのくらいの大きさの衛星を使いますか?また、それをどこに設置する予定ですか?

    -Space Solarの計画では、約2kmの大きさの衛星、すなわち2GWの衛星を使い、それを地球から22,000マイルの上に設置する予定です。

  • 太陽光発電のコストが過去数十年でどのように変化しましたか?

    -過去数十年間、特に2000年代初頭のドイツのフィードインタリフ制度のおかげで、太陽光発電のコストは大幅に下がり、現在では石炭や天然ガスよりも安価になっています。

  • SpaceXのStarshipがもたらす宇宙運送コストの低下はどの程度ですか?

    -SpaceXのStarshipは、150トンのペイロードを3百万ドルで打ち上げる見込みであり、1kgあたり20ドル程度になると予想されています。これは、過去の宇宙運送コストに比べて、大幅な低下です。

  • 宇宙型太陽光発電ステーションの建設にはどれだけの打ち上げミッションが必要ですか?

    -Space Solarの計画では、宇宙型太陽光発電ステーションの建設に68回の打ち上げミッションが必要です。

  • 宇宙から地球へ無線でエネルギーを伝える技術の原理は何ですか?

    -これは、フェーズド配列を使ってビームを制御する技術です。複数のアンテナを同じ周波数で振動させ、それらの波の干渉パターンを利用して、特定の方向にエネルギーを送ることができます。

  • Space Solarのシステムで使用される周波数はどれであり、なぜその周波数を選択しましたか?

    -Space Solarのシステムでは、2.45GHzのマイクロ波周波数を使用しています。この周波数は、雲や雨にもかかわらず容易に大気圏を通過できるため選択されています。

  • 宇宙型太陽光発電の安全性について、どのような安全対策が講じられていますか?

    -ビームが意図された集積地点から逸れたら、安全装置が作動し、パワービーミングプロセスを停止します。また、エネルギー強度は正午の日差しの1/4程度であり、NASAの初期研究表明、これは人間に安全です。

  • 宇宙型太陽光発電の効率はどのように評価されていますか?

    -宇宙型太陽光発電の太陽電池の効率は約40%であり、RFからDCへの変換効率は約85%です。大気圏を通過する際のロスや受信アンテナのロスも考慮されており、全体的な効率は約90%と評価されています。

  • Space Solarのビジネスモデルや将来の計画について教えてください。

    -Space Solarは、今後10年以内に商業的な宇宙型太陽光発電ファームを設置することを目指しています。2027年までにプロトタイプを打ち上げる予定があり、2030年までに約1,000軒の家を供給できる規模のバージョンを打ち上げる予定です。

Outlines

00:00

🚀 宇宙型ソーラーパネルの未来

1941年にアイザモフが宇宙型ソーラーパネルを描いた短編小説を契機に、2024年現在、オックスフォードのスタートアップ「Space Solar」が2kmの衛星を用いて地球にクリーンなエネルギーを送還する計画を立てています。この技術は、2050年までに倍増すると予想されるエネルギー需要とゼロ・エミッションの課題に対処する可能性があります。また、ソーラーパネルのコストの低下と、宇宙への打ち上げコストの削減が、宇宙でのソーラーパワーの実現を促進しています。

05:00

🌐 宇宙から無線で電力を送還

Space Solarは、マイクロ波束を使って地球にエネルギーを無線送還する計画を展開しています。この技術は、ニコライ・テスラの無線電力伝送の考え方と関連しており、アメリカのDARPAやグリッドオペレーターが研究しています。Space Solarは、フェーズ・アレイ技術を使って、エネルギーを特定の方向へ送る方法を開発しています。このアプローチは、従来のソーラーパネルよりも効率的で、太陽光を360°捕捉できるため、日没時でもエネルギー供給が可能であるという利点があります。

10:01

🛰️ 宇宙ソーラーパワーステーションの設計と挑戦

Space Solarの設計は、太陽光を集めるための60,000枚のソーラーパネルと、反射器を備えた1.7kmの直径を持つステーションで構成されています。これにより、核力発電所と同等の電力を生産することが期待されています。しかし、このプロジェクトには、コスト、安全性、技術的な挑戦が伴います。特に、68回の打ち上げとシンプルなロボティクスによる組み立てが求められます。また、安全対策として、ビームの誤差が生じた場合に備えた自動停止システムが搭載されています。

15:02

🌟 宇宙ソーラーパワーの効率と将来性

宇宙ソーラーパワーは、地球表面のソーラーファームに比べて18%の効率を持ち、土地のコストや大気圏の損失を考慮した上で、年間2.5倍の電力を生産できる可能性があります。また、1つのインフラで複数の地域に電力供給が可能な利点もあります。Space Solarは、2020年代中には商業的なソーラーファームを設置し、3年以内に1,000世帯を供給可能なプロトタイプを打ち上げる計画を進めています。この分野は、技術的な突破を遂げながらも、安全性やコスト面での課題に直面しています。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Isaac Asimov

アイザック・アシモフは、1941年に太陽エネルギーを無線で地球に伝える宇宙ステーションを描いた短編小説を発表した著名な作家です。このキーワードは、ビデオのテーマである宇宙型太陽光発電技術の創造性と科学的基礎を象徴しています。

💡宇宙型太陽光発電

宇宙型太陽光発電とは、地球の大气圏を越えて太陽光を直接収集し、地球に無線でエネルギーを供給する技術です。ビデオでは、この技術が将来のクリーンエネルギーソリューションの一つであり、特にSpace Solarというスタートアップがその実現に向けて取り組んでいることを紹介しています。

💡Space Solar

Space Solarは、英国オックスフォードを拠点とするスタートアップ企業で、宇宙で太陽光を収集し、地球に無線でエネルギーを供給することを目指しています。ビデオでは、この企業が2GWの衛星を打ち上げる計画を持ち、太陽光発電の可能性を広げていることを強調しています。

💡無線電力伝送

無線電力伝送は、空間を介して電力を直接伝える技術であり、ビデオでは、Space Solarがこの技術を利用して地球に太陽エネルギーを供給する計画を立っていることを説明しています。特に、マイクロ波束を用いたエネルギーの方向性を制御する方法が議論の的となっています。

💡相位配列

相位配列とは、アンテナの配置や遷移を用いて、電磁波の方向性を制御する技術です。ビデオでは、Space Solarがこの技術を用いて、太陽エネルギーを地球に向かって効率的に伝える方法を研究していることを紹介しています。

💡マイクロ波束

マイクロ波束は、短い波長を持つ電磁波であり、ビデオでは、Space Solarが2.45GHzのマイクロ波帯でエネルギーを無線で伝えることで、雲や雨にもかかわらず地球表面に到達できることを説明しています。

💡Dyson Sphere

Dyson Sphereは、太陽を取り囲む巨大な構造物であり、太陽エネルギーを最大限に活用することを目指したアイデアです。ビデオでは、宇宙型太陽光発電が、実際にDyson Sphereの考えを実現する一歩と考えられていることを触れています。

💡スターシップ

スターシップは、SpaceXが開発している宇宙船で、ビデオでは、Space Solarがこの船を利用して材料を宇宙に打ち上げ、宇宙型太陽光発電ステーションを建設する計画を持っていることを紹介しています。

💡太陽電池

太陽電池は、太陽光から電気エネルギーを生成するデバイスであり、ビデオでは、Space Solarが60,000枚の太陽電池を用いて太陽光を収集する計画を持ち、これにより2GWのエネルギーを生成することができると述べています。

💡エネルギー需給

エネルギー需給は、人類が消費するエネルギーの量と、その供給源のバランスを指します。ビデオでは、2050年までにエネルギー需給が倍増する見込みであり、新しい技術がこの課題に対処できるかどうかが議論されています。

💡Anka Solix X1

Anka Solix X1は、ビデオのスポンサーである企業が開発したモジュラー型の原子電池システムで、ビデオでは、宇宙型太陽光発電技術と同様に、自宅でのエネルギー自立を目指す製品として紹介されています。

Highlights

Isaac Asimov在1941年发表了一篇短篇小说,描述了一个空间站使用聚焦微波束无线传输太阳能到地球。

2024年,总部位于英国牛津的Space Solar初创公司计划使用2平方公里大小的卫星实现相同的技术。

Space Solar的联合首席执行官Sam Adin解释了太空太阳能如何满足21世纪的能源需求。

2050年能源需求预计将至少翻倍,而我们目前缺乏可信的解决方案来实现净零排放。

太阳能价格在过去几十年大幅下降,现在比煤炭和天然气更便宜,即使没有补贴。

SpaceX等公司的发射成本预测显示,Starship的发射成本可能降至每公斤20美元。

Space Solar计划建造一个直径1.7公里的太阳能收集站,这比世界上最大的人造结构还要大。

Space Solar的太阳能收集站将使用60,000块太阳能板,通过一对反射器收集阳光。

Space Solar的系统预计能够产生2吉瓦的能源,相当于一个核电站。

Space Solar使用相控阵技术,通过电子信号延迟来定向传输能量。

Space Solar的无线能量传输设计已证明能够将能量传输到指定位置。

Space Solar的系统使用2.45 GHz的微波频率,这种频率可以轻易穿透大气层。

Space Solar的接收天线阵列预计只需要现代风力发电场8%的面积。

Space Solar的首个项目预计成本接近120亿美元,后续系统成本预计会显著降低。

Space Solar面临的挑战之一是如何在空间中组装这种规模的结构,这在以前从未被证明过。

Space Solar计划在未来十年内安装他们的第一个商业太空太阳能农场。

Space Solar的系统预计能够提供比地面太阳能农场多2.5倍的年发电量。

Space Solar的系统设计允许在不同地点之间几乎即时切换能量供应。

Transcripts

play00:00

in 1941 Isaac azimoff published a short

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story in which a space station

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wirelessly transmits energy collected

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from the Sun down to planet Earth using

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a focused microwave beam now it's 2024

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and space solar a startup based in

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Oxford in the UK is making plans to do

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the same using a 2 gaw satellite almost

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2 km in size that hangs 22,000 Mi above

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us sending Down clean energy day and

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night Humanity has long been captive

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ated by the idea of a Dyson Sphere

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efficiently harvesting the energy of the

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sun today I want to talk about solar

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power in space generally but also I want

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to look specifically at the recent

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Breakthrough by space solar in actually

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proving that you can get energy back

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down to earth I reached out to Sam Adin

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co-ceo of space solar to understand more

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about what makes solar in space so

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captivating we've got huge challenges

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with both Net Zero and energy demand

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generally eny demand going to at least

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double by by by 2050 and we really don't

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have a a credible solution for this Net

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Zero is really an illusion without new

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more capable Technologies and in the sun

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we've got an incredible long-term clean

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energy source so space solar power is

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about how to use that in a in new ways

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that can really meet our energy needs

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for for the 21st century the idea of

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harvesting solar power in space and

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transmitting it to Earth has only

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transitioned out of the realm of total

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science fiction very recently this new

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reality is largely due to a reduction in

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the costs associated with the idea both

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for producing solar panels at scale and

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also for launching materials into space

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over the past couple of decades the

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price of Solar in particular has dropped

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significantly thanks to initiatives like

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the German feedin tariff in the early

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2000s that paid twice the market price

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for electricity generated from

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Renewables like solar today solar is

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cheaper than coal and natural gas even

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without any further subsidies applied to

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to it which is a really interesting case

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study in how government backing and

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intervention can help new technologies

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generate market demand this reduction in

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the price of Solar is compounded by the

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reduction in the cost of launching

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materials into space during the era of

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the space shuttle program which ran from

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1981 to 2011 the cost was approximately

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$118,000 to

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$222,000 per kilogram to get an item

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into space but now's recent projections

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from companies like SpaceX are

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forecasting a launch for the Starship

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of3 million

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for a 150 ton payload that's $20 per

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kilogram that is an astronomical no pun

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intended drop in price point that will

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fundamentally change the economies of

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commercializing space though yes you do

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need to take everything Mr musk says

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with a small grain of salt and an

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understanding of inherent hyperbole so

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building a space solar power station in

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in orbit is something that the world is

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is moving quickly towards so we're

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entering a completely new era in terms

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of how we use space with with things

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like Starship online so we've lived to

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date in a mass constrained era in space

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where the natural thing is to launch

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things to be a far apart as possible

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from each other uh you do that so that

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you avoid things like collisions and for

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interference but actually it's a stupid

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way of using an asset absolutely DFT and

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what what we're getting now with with

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the onset of Starship is we will move

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towards launching stuff to Cluster and

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be together it's what will drive

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economic interaction and the future

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growth of the sector so something like

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space based solar power is really the

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first cab off the rank in terms of the

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sorts of large infrastructure that we'll

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be able to build in space but think data

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centers direct mobile Communications new

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materials in space these are all things

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that this new era in space is is going

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to drive this makes the interest in

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solar projects in space both

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economically somewhat believable for the

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first time ever particularly for

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projects on this size and scale and

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these projects are big space solar aims

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to produce a solar harvesting station

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1.7 km in diameter that's more than

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twice the length of the largest man-made

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object ever the Burge Khalifa and they

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intend to construct it in space

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requiring an estimated 68 missions to

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move the required materials into orbit

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the station cassia will use 60,000 solar

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panels that collect the sunlight from a

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pair of reflectors that align to capture

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sunlight regardless of the orientation

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of the station initial estimates which

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we have known about for a while now but

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that look to be backed up by an

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independently conduct Ed report by

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Fraser Nash suggests that plants could

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produce 2 gaw of energy which is about

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the same as a nuclear power station the

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question is how do you get that solar

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energy that is collected back to Earth

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we're going to cover off that question

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in detail but first I have to thank

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today's sponsor that makes these sorts

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of long form episodes possible we're on

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the pathway to unlocking solar power

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from space but there will always be need

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for energy resilience on a home byome

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why I'm excited to be working with

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today's sponsor Anka solix who just

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announced the Anka solix X1 the X1 is a

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less than 20 milliseconds and it's

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capable of simultaneously powering high

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power appliances like air conditioners

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and washing machines during extended

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power outages the X1 automatically sets

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up a microG grid for your home

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recharging itself from your solar panels

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even in extreme temperatures from -4

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fahit to as high as 130 1° F the X1 is a

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whole home backup power system it can be

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upgraded in capacity as your needs grow

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and it's been future proofed so it can

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use a mixture of existing as well as

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future battery designs its modular

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approach means that if one battery pack

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fails it doesn't affect the overall

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operation of the system the X1 can be

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remotely controlled and monitored on the

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anchor app to help users optimize their

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power usage each battery module also has

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a built-in energy Optimizer allowing it

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to independently charge or discharge

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providing up to 2, 300 kwatt hours more

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energy than other Solutions on the

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market and it sleek and minimal design

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means that it looks great and doesn't

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take over your whole garage the X1 is

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built to give you energy Independence

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and reduce your home's bills if you'd

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like to check them out follow the link

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down below or in the description to

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learn more thank you to Anor solix for

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supporting the channel now back to the

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video the idea of transmitting power

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across free space otherwise called

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Wireless power transmission sounds like

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the stuff of mysterious Nikolai Tesla

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folklore often Ed for the Lost

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Technologies of the past but you'll be

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pleased to know that this isn't the case

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so much like Communications went from wi

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to wiress the future of power is very

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much Wireless as well and you've got

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organizations like Dara looking at this

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in the US grid operators looking at this

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or ways to get power from on offshore to

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onshore we've actually made a lot of

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progress in the Technologies necessary

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to make energy transmission even from

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outer space a possibility the

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oxford-based team are looking to use a

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well-established technique as the basis

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for their approach approach an energy

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beam steered by a phased array if you've

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taken a physics or engineering course

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before you've probably covered the

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basics of these but the operating

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principle I always find equal parts

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simple and surprising that it works if

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you take a radio antenna and apply an

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alternating electric field or voltage to

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it this sends out an oscillation into

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the electromagnetic field around the

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antenna ultimately making you a really

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boring radio station and a really

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inefficient way of sending energy from A

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to B we can visualize this antenna as

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just an oscillating point in space

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sending out radio waves in all

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directions an interesting thing happens

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though if we place two of these antennas

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next to each other oscillating in sync

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with each other now we get an

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interference pattern between these two

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waves cancelling in some places and

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adding in others that looks a lot like a

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double slit interference pattern largely

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because to a certain extent it is if we

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continue adding antennas this effect

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compounds and we start to notice that

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very Little Wave disturbance is moving

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in some directions and a lot is moving

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in others we are now sending energy in a

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specific Direction this is also how cell

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phone towers work to make sure that the

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cell phone signal that they are sending

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is outward and downwards towards the

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ground not up into the sky which would

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be a waste of electricity there's one

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last trick we can do in this system if

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we add a delay in the antennas from left

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to right this changes how the signals

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interfere the result is the beam is

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steered left or right depending on the

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relative delay between the antennas and

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you can imagine this is just in 2D you

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could also build an array in 3D and now

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you can steer up down left and right and

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make sure your power is transmitted to

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the location of Interest down on say

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planet Earth but how is space solar

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taking this approach and adapting it

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into their designs it's it's neat so um

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I could I could take the laptop over and

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show you now it's going to this is going

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to be interesting so here's a picture

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Ben of the a sort of 3D of the the

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helical structure and if I take it above

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the structure the lights are pointing

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down from the top and you see the

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different steps there it's the steps

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that have the PV on it and then if you

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look from the side you can see the the

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antennas there and so the the the system

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then beams out horizontally towards

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towards me in in 360° depending on where

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the uh the prodct beam is coming from

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the Breakthrough announcement that you

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might seen in the news recently was that

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the team proved that their design

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spreading the antennas across this

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helical spiral system is capable of

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transporting energy wirelessly and

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steering that beam to the desired

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location here a transceiver on the far

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wall and that's a really important proof

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of their design principle one of the

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challenges with with with space Sol

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power is is as you go around orbits you

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see the Sun at different angles there's

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lots of sort of fa flat panel approaches

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but certain parts of the year they get

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or or day and night they get abs

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absolutely zero instant energy so other

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designs have very complicated mechanical

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rotating joints what the cop helical

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design does is it's a completely solid

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state solution to this but it beams in

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360° like a lighthouse um and provides a

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constant aperture towards the Earth um

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so it's a very very novel solution and

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it massively reduces the mass because

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all the components used all the time

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other designs components used say half

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the time mass is about 60% of the cap

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effects of a of a system so it really

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does provide really compelling costs in

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terms of the the ultimate cost of

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electricity that um that comes out of

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the system inherent to this phased array

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approach is that it requires no moving

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Parts it's steered entirely by

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electronic signal delay which reduces

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the chances of failure that would

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potentially end a mission based out in

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Space the space solar team will use a

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beam in the microwave frequency of 2.45

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GHz partly chosen because it easily

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penetrates the atmosph spere even in the

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case of cloud cover and Rain which you

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can see in this diagram that is so hard

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on the eyes only a physicist could have

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made it back on Earth the power that is

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delivered is captured by a similar but

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much larger array of antennas estimated

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to require a small fraction of the

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footprint of a modern day Wind Farm

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about 8% according to space solar and as

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evidence of what is possible while no

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systems have operated at the proposed

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energy scales of the space solar system

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similar technologies have run

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terrestrial proof of Concepts including

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uding microwave transmitters sending

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power from Maui to Hawaii a 148 km

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distance back in 2008 and Mitsubishi

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transmitted a 10 kilowatt beam over 500

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M back in 2015 last year A team out of

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Caltech used their Maple system to

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demonstrate energy transmission from

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space using off-the-shelf transmitters

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so we ar in the field of is this science

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possible we are much more asking the

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question of how do we optimize the

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engineering and that is a good thing for

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this technology but are we to the woods

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yet definitely no building something of

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this size in space has never been done

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before and that will be a huge challenge

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so let's talk about some of the

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concerns the initial projection for the

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cost of the first project is just under

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12 billion reasonably steep but

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subsequent systems should be

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significantly cheaper on the order of

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about3 billion and that's comparable if

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not slightly cheaper than new nuclear

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sites but honestly never put too much

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faith and exact projections this far out

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from having a technology in hand instead

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I think it's better to look at the

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trends and those Trends are the cost of

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launching is tending down solar is

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tending down and Construction in space

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well we don't really have an idea yet

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that's probably a major risk factor in

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orbit assembly of anything like this

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scale has never been demonstrated so

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you're looking at a black box at the

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moment with any number of things that

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could go wrong space solar's next

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challenge is how do they tackle this

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problem in a sensible and scalable way

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and so to build the the space solar

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power station for us it's in a to a

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total of 68 Starship launches for a 2

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gaw system um and then these are

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assembled by it's fairly simple robotics

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in in many ways these are these systems

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are comprised of hundreds of thousands

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of the same dinner plate size modules

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designed to be clipped together and so

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it's a fairly simple assembly line type

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robotics not sort of complicated robotic

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arms and that sort of thing so where we

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we've got to with with space solar now

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uh We've created the monolithic design

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for our system and the next step is how

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you then slice and ice and and and build

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the plans for how to build it in space

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for the moment the full Innovation load

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rests on the shoulders of the companies

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aiming to deploy these Solar

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Technologies and that should be scary

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both to those companies and to people

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thinking about investing in those

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companies I've seen in other people's

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coverage a lot of people expressing

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concern about safety of these systems

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people often site solar concentrat

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examples as the cause of their worry

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which yes have been known to

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accidentally incinerate Birds leaving

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tiny smoke trails in their wake and we

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already know that people have a problem

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with 5G which is harmless so I'd imagine

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that we will have a bigger problem with

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an energy beam being directed Down to

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Earth from space are we right to be

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concerned from a first past practical

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point of view all systems are fallible

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regardless of how clever their safety

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engineering is so let's take that as

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given that the idea that if something

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could go wrong at some point it will go

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wrong regardless of the reason let's run

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through some of the numbers though

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behind the space solar system they

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estimate an energy intensity of about

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one quter of the midday Sun as far as

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initial studies run by NASA conclude

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this is safe for human beings and we

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shouldn't have any partially microwaved

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humans running around anytime soon 2.5

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GHz is also a reasonably long wavelength

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about the size of your hand so photons

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don't contain the energy to damage DNA

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the likely deployment point of these

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systems will also be offshore according

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to the company occupying about 6 km x 13

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km at UK latitudes that's elliptical

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because the Earth is curved which flat

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earthers might not like in terms of

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interlock or Safety Systems any

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deviation of the beam from the intended

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collection point will trigger a fail sta

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stopping the power beaming process

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there's also often a lot of mention in

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common sections of coverage of these

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sorts of stories about the inefficiency

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of these systems how exactly do they

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Stack Up PV up in space so we use high

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concentration photoal about 40%

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efficient RF to DC conversion is about

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85% efficient the other loss is there's

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about 2% loss through the atmosphere the

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beam because of defraction ends up as a

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bell curve an Airy disc and so depending

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on where you where you chop the edge of

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the receiving antenna off you've got

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some losses there that's about 90%

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efficient and then you've got dc2 RF at

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the other end again 85% Sun plug

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compared to terrestrial solar

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terrestrial solar is about 1% efficient

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space solar power Sun plug is about 18%

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efficient we may find that the answer is

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just make the hardware more powerful

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which has been the recourse of bad

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software Engineers for a very long time

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now making these systems bigger on Earth

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in a solar farm is difficult because

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land is very expensive but it is

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basically free to make this system

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larger in space basically free it's a

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bit of a weird way of looking at the

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problem but if the actual space of land

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on Earth occupied is one of your

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concerns the initial estimates for the

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same land area usage suggests that

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space-based solar power could produce

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2.5 times more annual power than

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terrestrial solar Farms or about 12

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times more than offshore wind fors I

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haven't seen it talked about a lot but I

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also like the idea that it could be

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providing power during the day to one

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location and somewhere else during that

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location's nighttime or if there was a

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loow power requirement almost instantly

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switching to another location so a

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single infrastructure project might

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actually be able to service multiple

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locations my ending reaction to this

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space no pun intended though this is one

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of the first times that I've looked into

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it is this is an interesting field yes

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partly because I'm biased and I really

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want a Dyson Sphere to exist but also

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because in solving the problems

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associated with getting these structures

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set up in space we learn how to set up

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these sorts of structures in space which

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I think opens a lot of of doors to

play17:59

Applications not that it needs it but it

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also provides further volume and demand

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drivers to lower the cost of solar and

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space launches space solar wants to

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install their first commercial solar

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farm in space within the next decade

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however they are aiming to launch an

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initial prototype in the next 3 years

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followed by a larger version before 2030

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able to power a village of around 1,000

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homes I think a space-based power

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generating system of some form is an

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inevitability whether it's the UK

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America or China all of which are

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working on this technology someone will

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get there the question is will it be

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this first wave aventures that get it

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right or who among them will be the

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first or do it best I think that is

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still very much to be determined at this

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point but I will always Champion smart

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folk trying to tackle really hard

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problems because you never know where

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the output the pursuit of these answers

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will lead

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us if you like this video leave a like

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or comment down below if you're

play18:59

interested in other Technologies making

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their way into space I just covered how

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to build the first force field check it

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out here or wherever I left it

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potentially down in the description down

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below as always thank you very much for

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watching I'll see you next time goodbye

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