Eco Factor: Space-based solar farm to be developed by Mitsubishi Electric Corp and IHI Corp.
Space-based solar plants are slowly gathering momentum with a Japanese project to develop a space solar plant that is capable of generating 1GW of power being announced. The project will be developed by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and IHI Corp. and will make use of a four square kilometer array of solar panels stationed 36,000km above the surface of earth.
The $21bn plant could meet realism in about three decades. Before the project, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch a small 10MW demonstration satellite consisting of solar panels in 2015. The project will be use to test the feasibility of the plant and also test the systems used to beam energy from space to ground-based receivers. If developed, the plant will be able to beam about 1GW of solar power on the ground that can power about 294,000 average Tokyo homes.
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
Via: EnergyMatters
