Japan Space Scientists Make Wireless Energy Breakthrough

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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We are one step closer to harnessing the power of the sun from space before it is diffused by the atmosphere and interrupted by the Earth’s rotation. Japanese scientists have successfully transmitted energy wirelessly using microwaves. Admittedly, the power was low and the distance short, but it’s a positive start.

The idea of space-based solar power generation emerged among US researchers in the 1960s and Japan's SSPS program, chiefly financed by the industry ministry, started in 2009
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sfsuphysics said:
And how much power did they use to transmit that much?
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Most of the news stories repeat the same thing almost word for word, including that they transmitted 1.8 kilowatts a distance of 170 feet, with almost no other info. A few of them, like this one, report instead that they transmitted 10 kilowatts a distance of 1,640 feet. In neither case do we know how much power was lost in transit.
 
evilsofa said:
Most of the news stories repeat the same thing almost word for word, including that they transmitted 1.8 kilowatts a distance of 170 feet, with almost no other info. A few of them, like this one, report instead that they transmitted 10 kilowatts a distance of 1,640 feet. In neither case do we know how much power was lost in transit.
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Efficiency in this case isn't as critical since it's free energy that's already been generated and would go untapped otherwise.
 
All I can think of is some kind of outer-space death-ray
 
beaming power was done years ago, between 2 Hawaiian islands, 60 miles apart, at least testing. They said that the last 60 miles of the atmosphere was the biggest problem and that they wanted to put panels in space that in turned beamed down power.

Saw it on Discovery or Nat Geo, one of the other, nice to see someone has finally done it
 
This has been idolized for a long time... Huge solar collectors in HA GeoSync that send microwave beams to generator sites earthside. Some have been power conversion (like this) others were just pure microwave transmission heating a molten medium target to create steam and drive generators (think of a target 3km2 that's nothing but pipes and collectors). Big sites like in Sonora or here in Arizona, the Sahara, the Andean Steepes etc then connect to the grid, etc, etc.
 
heatlesssun said:
Efficiency in this case isn't as critical since it's free energy that's already been generated and would go untapped otherwise.
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It's not exactly free there would be a cost of infrastructure and maintenance to factor in which efficiency would be part of that equation.
 
Great, we're finally catching up to Nikola Tesla's 1800s technology. ;)
Pretty amazing what that guy was able to do, especially during the time period.
 
Remember, it's Japan that's pursuing this. A very rich, very small, very high population country with extremely limited domestic energy resources. They are now only generating 9% of their own power, compared to 20% when they were still running their nuclear reactors.

At some point, it's not going to matter how much it costs to beam down solar energy from space - they may have no other choice. And they'll hit that point a lot sooner than most of the other developed nations. For example, the US doesn't need to do this at all because they have vast desert regions to exploit for ground-based solar power.
 
heatlesssun said:
Efficiency in this case isn't as critical since it's free energy that's already been generated and would go untapped otherwise.
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Uh, wrong. The cost effectiveness of such a system is a HUGE barrier. What would the point be of bringing 1000MW down from space if it happened to cost $100 Billion? Bang for your buck is always a major factor in power generation.
 
evilsofa said:
Remember, it's Japan that's pursuing this. A very rich, very small, very high population country with extremely limited domestic energy resources. They are now only generating 9% of their own power, compared to 20% when they were still running their nuclear reactors.

At some point, it's not going to matter how much it costs to beam down solar energy from space - they may have no other choice. And they'll hit that point a lot sooner than most of the other developed nations. For example, the US doesn't need to do this at all because they have vast desert regions to exploit for ground-based solar power.
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I'd think they'd start creating solar microgrids with mandatory rooftop panels all over the country before they bankrupt themselves. Hell, we might even have working fusion reactors before space based solar power is realistically deployable.
 
Grahamkracka said:
Uh, wrong. The cost effectiveness of such a system is a HUGE barrier. What would the point be of bringing 1000MW down from space if it happened to cost $100 Billion? Bang for your buck is always a major factor in power generation.
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I was only referring to conversion efficiency. Cost efficiency is an issue with everything.
 
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