The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Northrop Grumman have succeeded in the experiment of space solar panels and microwave power transmission on the 21st, which marched the first step for the concept in which space power stations would provide electricity for forward operating bases.
The US Army executes military missions in all parts of the world, which is why many forward operating bases (FOB) must be established at regions that lack infrastructures or locations with extreme geographical environments, where the supply of power becomes a major back-end challenge. There have been studies on the supply of various new energy in the past years from algae biofuel to small nuclear reactors.
The Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstration and Research (SSPIDR) that is affiliated with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is focused on the research and development of space solar panels and the technology of transmitting electrical energy through microwave beams in the hopes of building large solar power stations on space orbits in the future.
The new space solar panels co-developed by the research team at AFRL and Northrop Grumman collect and convert light energy that has a wavelength of 400-700nm into microwaves with a wavelength of 1-300mm, before emitting the microwaves directly from the space power station to the rectennas of FOB for power supply.
According to the research team, they have managed to convert light energy into microwaves through the new solar panels yesterday, and have successfully emitted the microwaves to the rectennas, which proves that their design is feasible. Rachel Delaney, an engineer at AFRL, said that the next step would be to try and reduce the dimension of these solar panels, which facilitates a better emission from the surface to space facilities, as well as lowers conversion losses.
The research team has to also continue to observe the changes to the new solar panels under extreme space temperature, as well as losses of energy during emission of microwaves. Although the team is estimating roughly 1,000m2 solar panels for the power required by a single FOB, the advantage of space solar is that it is not confined by terrain and latitude, and the power can be received from any specific location of the surface.
AFRL is expected to conduct the first experiment on space microwave emission prior to 2025, which leaves several years to resolve issues pertaining to dimension and energy losses.
(Cover photo source: Northrop Grumman)