Enhancing Global Clean Energy Services Using Orbiting Solar Reflectors

Project Information

SOLSPACE

Grant agreement ID: 883730

DOI

10.3030/883730

EC signature date 16 June 2020

Start date 1 December 2020

End date 31 May 2027

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 2 496 392,00

EU contribution

€ 2 496 392,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - SOLSPACE (Enhancing Global Clean Energy Services Using Orbiting Solar Reflectors)

Reporting period: 2023-12-01 to 2025-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The delivery of clean global energy services represents one of the grand challenges of the 21st century. While solar power can provide clean energy during the day, its output fades at sunset just when energy demand can rise sharply. This project is exploring the use of large, ultra-lightweight orbiting solar reflectors to illuminate terrestrial solar power plants after sunset, or before sunrise, both to boost their output and better match supply and demand.

Our work spans four research themes. First, by investigating new families of orbits for the solar reflectors we aim to find new opportunities to efficiently illuminate terrestrial solar power plants to deliver additional clean energy. Second, we are investigating how the orientation of large solar reflectors can be actively controlled to ensure that sunlight is directed towards solar power plants as the reflectors orbit overhead. Third, we are investigating designs for the reflectors themselves; in order to minimise the cost of launching the reflectors, they need to be extremely lightweight, but also large enough to reflect significant solar energy. Finally, the economics of such ventures are being investigated to understand how the rapidly growing demand for global clean energy services and falling launch costs can lead to a new 21st century space-based energy infrastructure.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We have undertaken a range of key tasks including an analysis of the energy delivered by orbiting solar reflectors, a trade-off of the actuators required to orient the reflectors, a scalable design for the reflectors themselves and an economic analysis of the viability of the concept. This work has been integrated into a single reference architecture to provide a detailed end-to-end analysis of the concept. The reference architecture comprises an array of modular hexagonal reflectors whose orientation is actively controlled using four control moment gyros. The orbit of the array of reflectors has been selected to maximise the delivery of additional energy to a range of terrestrial solar power plants. An economic analysis has also identified the trade-off between future energy prices and launch costs that will enable economic breakeven for the concept. Furthermore, a technology roadmap has been developed which delivers a pathway towards future large-scale commercial operations.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Our ultimate goal is to deliver an optimised architecture for orbiting solar reflectors to enhance the output of terrestrial solar power plants. This will comprise identifying new families of orbits for the reflectors; new concepts for actively controlling the orientation of the reflectors; novel concepts for the design and fabrication of the reflectors; a clear understanding of the economic conditions for the architecture to be viable; a detailed integrated technology roadmap to de-risk the future commercial development of the venture. We aim to demonstrate that orbiting solar reflectors can be a key technology for the 21st century that can deliver new global clean energy services.

Mirrors reflecting sunlight onto a solar power plant (Andrea Viale (Earth texture map NASA))