Solar energy generation keeps on becoming cheaper and more efficient, but some basic limitations will always apply: solar panels can only generate power during the daytime, and much of the sunlight is absorbed by the atmosphere as it shines downward.

So ESA is working on the concept of collecting solar power up in orbit, where sunlight is up to 11 times more intense than across European territory, then beaming it down to the ground for use.

As part of that effort, a new project looks into designing solar-power satellites, which would become the largest structures ever built in space. Frazer-Nash Consultancy will study the modular construction of solar-power satellites, to efficiently dissembling them as they come to their end-of-life for reuse or recycling.

Supported through the Discovery element of ESA's Basic Activities, this project was initiated through ESA's Open Space Innovation Platform, seeking out promising new ideas for space. Find out more about this and other recent OSIP activities here.

Related Links
Open Space Innovation Platform at ESA
All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com

Tweet

Quantum 'shock absorbers' allow perovskite to exhibit superfluorescence at room temperature
Raleigh NC (SPX) Apr 01, 2022
Semiconducting perovskites that exhibit superfluorescence at room temperature do so due to built-in thermal "shock absorbers" which protect dipoles within the material from thermal interference. A new study from North Carolina State University explores the mechanism involved in this macroscopic quantum phase transition and explains how and why materials like perovskites exhibit macroscopic quantum coherence at high temperatures. Picture a school of fish swimming in unison or the synchronized flash ... read more