Months after former president APJ Abdul Kalam made a presentation of his vision to transport solar power from space to the earth, American scientists working at the Pentagon have developed the path breaking technology to realise his dream into a reality.
Dr Paul Jaffe, a spacecraft engineer at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) of US Department of Defence, has built and tested a module to capture and transmit solar power, the concept unveiled by Kalam in his presentation last May at the 32nd International Space Development Conference and Acceptance speech on receiving the prestigious Wernher Von Braun Memorial Award.
In a statement, Jaffe admitted the idea of an orbiting solar array that would beam energy to the planet seems kind of crazy. But, like most novel ideas, he says, "Hard to tell if it's nuts until you've actually tried."
"What if you could capture solar power in space, then send it down to Earth? What if you could launch the hundreds of modules for such a satellite, then use robots to assemble the entire array in space? You could power a military installation, a city - even on a cloudy day, even at night," the NRL said in a statement, adding its brightest and most daring minds in satellites, space robotics and radiofrequency are building the technologies that could lead to such an achievement.
According to NRL, Jeff has developed the sandwich module: with a patent-pending "step" variation.
In the designs of the two prototypes that he has developed, one side receives solar energy with a photovoltaic panel, electronics in the middle convert that direct current to a radiofrequency, and the other side has an antenna to beam power away.
Jaffe sometimes gets asked about the efficiency of such a system, but the most important metric is the power cost per pound. "Launching mass into space is very expensive," says Jaffe, so finding a way to keep the components light is an essential part of his design. He can just cradle one module in his forearms.
The NRL said Jaffe's sandwich module is four times more efficient than anything done previously.
He also has a "novel approach to solving the thermal problem, using the 'step' module."
The step module design, now in the patent process, opens up the sandwich to look more like a zig-zag. This allows heat to radiate more efficiently, so the module can receive greater concentrations of sunlight without overheating.
In his presentation last year, Abdul Kalam had argued that the space solar power is not only safe and globally available, but can also be safely shared with all countries on this planet without proliferation concerns.
