This episode of DNews is brought to you by Full Sail University.
This week the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency announced it wants to get solar power
from space.
I'm having flashbacks to disasters from SimCity2000.
Hello!
I'm Trace.
Thank you for watching DNews.
Back in the 1960s, American aerospace engineer Peter Glaser proposed launching solar panels
into space, and beaming the power they collect back to the surface for our use.
Since the late 60s the idea has been in a holding pattern mainly because of the expense
and worries about maintenance and equipment, but thanks to recent developments in solar
panel tech -- the Japanese space firm JAXA says they can finally try it.
The plan is ambitious at minimum and cost hasn't yet been calculated, BUT JAXA is determined,
and they're not the only ones.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is also interested in space-based solar.
The reason everyone's looking up, is because that's where the sun sits!
If we can put a satellite in orbit to collect the sun's rays BEFORE the atmosphere filters
them out, and without the worry of a cloudy day, that would be rad.
The JAXA Space Based Power System or SBPS will orbit 22,400 miles up, and if done to
their specs, would completely replace a nuclear power plant by producing 1 gigawatt of electricity
-- enough to power half-a-million homes.
Their plan uses a 10,000 metric ton system, which is... well pretty ridiculous.
The largest rocket ever launched was the Saturn V -- it took our boys to the moon and could
only lift about 130 metric tons.
Once the power is gathered, a converter in space will convert the electricity into a
microwave beam -- not like in your house, literally waves of energy that are on the
micro scale.
Microwaves can be converted from energy at 80 percent efficiency, which means there would
be some loss, but it would be pretty damn efficient -- about 48% of the power collected
would reach consumers.
Which doesn't sound great, but it really is.
To make sure the array is getting sunlight 24-hours a day, JAXA plans to put mirrors
on either side of the planet to reflect sunlight at the collector all the time.
The Japanese are announcing their plan so far in advance in the hope other countries
will gather and help realize the dream of solar from space.
Once created, it could provide clean, unlimited energy anywhere on the planet, regardless
of remote location.
Here's the kicker.
It would cost about a trillion dollars.
Which sounds like a lot, but it's like 125 bucks per person on the planet in 2030.
And that's WAY more than you're paying doe your power bill.
Not to mention oil wars and all the pollution, ecological damage, mining and drilling that
goes with fossil fuels.
We've got commenting areaaassss, check them out and type your feelings on space-based
solar so we can all talk about it!
None of this would be possible without computers to run the system, and we need people to write
the computer programs.
Full Sail University in Florida offers courses to help train tech professionals by blending
code and real-world experience.
Students of Full Sail have hands-on access to technology on their first day, get a discounted
laptop and all the software they'll need to earn degrees in software, mobile and web development.
To find out more and support the show go to fullsail.edu/dnews!
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