Why China’s space-based solar power is the next frontier of green energy

Amid turmoil in the Middle East, including the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil passes, Beijing is pressing ahead with its Zhuri (sun-chasing) project to build solar power stations in space.

Chinese Academy of Engineering academician and senior rocket scientist Long Lehao likened this space-based solar power programme to putting the Three Gorges Dam into geostationary orbit, underscoring its extraordinary scale and ambition. China plans to conduct a megawatt-level in-orbit test by around 2030.

Space-based solar power refers to orbital systems that collect solar energy via satellites equipped with enormous solar panels, convert it into microwaves or laser beams and send it wirelessly to ground-based rectennas, which then feed electricity into the grid.

The appeal is obvious: unlike terrestrial solar, it operates continuously – unaffected by weather, seasons or nightfall.

The concept is not new. Science fiction author Isaac Asimov popularised the idea in his 1941 short story Reason, while aerospace engineer Peter Glaser published the first technical design for an orbital solar power system in 1968.

In the 1970s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) confirmed its feasibility before concluding that engineering complexity and launch costs made it economically unviable. But that is now changing. Advances in robotics, wireless power transmission and sharply falling launch costs are narrowing the gap between concept and reality. Major space powers are taking notice.

South China Morning Post