| Themes > Science > Chemistry > General Chemistry > Energy > Solar Energy > Solar Energy from Space |
A futuristic scheme that has been proposed to produce power on a large scale envisions placing giant solar modules in geosynchronous earth orbit, where energy generated from sunlight would be converted to microwaves and beamed to antennas on earth for reconversion to electric power. To produce as much power as five large nuclear power plants (1 billion watts each) several square miles of solar collectors, weighing 10 million pounds, would have to be assembled in orbit; an earth-based antenna 5 miles in diameter would be required. Smaller systems could be built for remote islands, but the economy of scale suggests advantages to a single large system. |