Power plant in space to power homes on earth

subscribe

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and IHI Corp. will join a 2 trillion yen (US $21 billion) Japanese project intending to build a giant solar-power generator in space within three decades and beam electricity to earth.

A research group representing 16 companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., will spend four years developing technology to send electricity without cables in the form of microwaves, according to a statement on the trade ministryÂ’s Web site.

“It sounds like a science-fiction cartoon, but solar power generation in space may be a significant alternative energy source in the century ahead as fossil fuel disappears,” said Kensuke Kanekiyo, managing director of the Institute of Energy Economics, a government research body.

Japan is developing the technology for the 1-gigawatt solar station, fitted with four square kilometers of solar panels, and hopes to have it running in three decades, according to a 15-page background document prepared by the trade ministry in August. Being in space it will generate power from the sun regardless of weather conditions, unlike earth-based solar generators.

One gigawatt is enough to supply about 294,000 average Tokyo homes.

Related News

Nova Scotia Power says it now generates 30 per cent of its power from renewables

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's private utility says it has hit a new milestone in its delivery of electricity from renewable resources.

Nova Scotia Power says 30 per cent of the electricity it produced in 2018 came from renewable sources such as wind power.

The utility says 18 per cent came from wind turbines, nine per cent from hydroelectric and tidal turbines and three per cent by burning biomass.

However, over half of the province's electrical generation still comes from the burning of coal or petroleum coke. Another 13 per cent come from burning natural gas and five per cent from imports.

The utility says…

READ MORE
The Innovative Solution Bringing Electricity To Crisis Stricken Areas

The Innovative Solution Bringing Electricity To Crisis Stricken Areas

READ MORE

German coalition backs electricity subsidy for industries

READ MORE

Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant

Construction of expanded Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant to start October 2020

READ MORE

Australia PM rules out taxpayer funded power plants amid energy battle

READ MORE