Mitsubishi, IHI to Join $21 Bln Space Solar Project (Update1)
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By Shigeru Sato and Yuji Okada
Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and IHI Corp. will join a 2 trillion yen ($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 ministry’s Web site today.
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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, according to the document. One gigawatt is enough to supply about 294,000 average Tokyo homes.
More below the fold.
- Proof of concept powersat - 2015
- Gigawatt powersat - 2030
While America invests to keep the banking and real estate and health insurance industries afloat and generating record profits, Japan invests in the kind of technology that will not only power civilization without adding to the earth's carbon loading, but will also be for sale to the rest of the planet. This will NOT solve power problems next week or next year, but it is obviously time to start planning permanent solutions to earth's energy problems that require long-term thinking and sustained long-term funding.
The $21B includes all the front-loaded development costs... expect the second powersat installation to be a lot cheaper.
Probably a good thing since given "our" government's priorities, we're going to be customers for this technology, not the vendors. And the new jobs and the taxes generated on payroll and profit will go to Japan, as they should.
High risk projects go with the high rewards that happen if they work. While this project is a long way from being a slam-dunk, we know how to generate power in space (just about every satellite has been powered by solar panels for generations) and a fair amount about transporting it via microwave.
This is not to say that no efforts have been made by NASA with respect to Space Solar Power. Studies have been done by NASA for a 20 TW system. Unfortunately, the project was killed during the Bush era.
If America wants to partner with Japan over the project, IMO, the most effective thing we can do is put serious money into R&D towards reducing the price of launching cargo into orbit, including non-rocket alternatives.