BEIJING, China – China has announced plans to bring forward the development of a ‘solar power plant’ capable of beaming energy to Earth from outer space. The ambitious project, developed by researchers at Xidian University in the Shaanxi province, involves building a power station attached to a satellite which can capture sunlight high above the ground and convert it into microwave beams.
The beams are then transmitted to a wireless receiver back on Earth where they can be converted into a clean, renewable source of electricity.
The first stage of the project has been given the greenlight after a team of scientists performed a series of successful tests in front of a panel of outside experts, and a trial run has been confirmed to take place in 2028- two years ahead of schedule.
If successful, the project would effectively eliminate solar power’s biggest drawback – its inability to be used in the dark – by putting the panels in orbit where they can evade Earth’s shadow.
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