European space company wants solar power plant in space

EADS Astrium, Europe's biggest space company, plans to put a solar power satellite in orbit to demonstrate the collection of solar power in space and its transmission via infrared laser to provide electricity on Earth.

Chief executive officer of Astrium, François Auque, said the system is at the testing stage, but that a viable system collecting and transmitting power from space could be within reach soon. Auque said space solar power is an attractive idea because it is an inexhaustible and clean form of energy. Unlike solar plants on Earth, orbital solar collectors can work around the clock, and there is no interference from clouds or atmospheric dusts or gases, which means the energy hitting photovoltaic cells in orbit is much greater than it would be for the same panels on the ground.

Earlier concepts of beaming power to Earth from space were criticized because they relied on microwaves to transmit the power to the ground, which has safety concerns, so Astrium plans to use infrared lasers instead, which means that even if they were misdirected people and objects hit by the laser beams could not be scorched.

The transmission of power via infrared laser has been tested in Astrium’s laboratories, and they are now concentrating on improving the system’s efficiency. Work on developing converters to convert received infrared energy to electricity is proceeding rapidly, and Astrium is collaborating in this work with scientists at the University of Surrey, in the UK. The company is hoping to achieve 80% efficiency in the conversion.

According to Astrium’s chief technology officer, Robert Laine, at present the power handled by the system is limited by the size of the laser that can be built. A demonstration mission would also be necessary to prove the system works, and this should be possible within the present decade.

The concept of harvesting solar power in space has been discussed for at least the last three decades, but the problems of power loss during transmission and the expense and difficulty of assembling large arrays of solar collectors in space have seemed almost insurmountable. However, Astrium is not the only company close to bringing the idea to fruition. Last September Japan announced it is planning to put a small demonstration solar collecting satellite in orbit by 2015. This system will transmit the power to Earth using microwaves.

EADS Astrium is seeking investors and partners such as the EU, national governments, space agencies, or power companies, to fund and contribute in other ways to the development of its operational orbital solar collection and transmission system.

Source: http://www.physorg.com/news183278937.html

Samsung Signs $6.6 Billion Deal to Build Wind and Solar Power in Canada

In what’s being described as the largest deal of its kind in the world, Samsung C&T and the Ontario government signed a $6.6 billion investment deal Thursday under which the Korean industrial conglomerate will build 2,500 megawatts of wind and solar power in the province, as well as establish manufacturing facilities that will build the equipment.
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The third player in the deal is Korea Electric Power Corp., the country’s largest utility, with 10,200 megawatts of generation capacity worldwide, including a new 1,200-megawatt wind farm in China.

The deal, initially proposed by Samsung a year ago, was spurred on by the province’s Green Energy Act, which was passed last year to provide generous incentives for clean-energy production. “This means Ontario is officially the place to be for green energy manufacturing in North America,” Ontario’s premier, Dalton McGuinty, said during a signing ceremony in Toronto.

Under the terms of the agreement, officials said, Samsung must build four manufacturing plants in Ontario, promising 16,000 direct and indirect jobs over the next five years. The energy generated will be enough for 580,000 homes.

“I think 16,000 jobs in this economy is pretty good,” said Mr. McGuinty, who has taken some criticism for selecting Samsung without an open tendering process. He rejected suggestions that Samsung’s presence would crowd out other suppliers.

The first phase will be built near Windsor, in southwestern Ontario where energy was once generated by a coal plant that is due to be decommissioned by 2014.

Korean trade officials said at the event that Samsung selected Ontario as a base of operations to make wind and solar equipment for customers not just in Ontario, but across North America.

Ontario’s green energy laws include domestic content provisions that require some of the equipment to be made in Ontario. It also gives the province a leg up in the race to supply wind and solar equipment to the rapidly transforming American electricity sector, Mr. McGuinty said. “If you ask around state capitals in the U.S., they would be secretly asking themselves why they didn’t do it first.”

Quebec adopted similar domestic content rules for its own wind sector, which is largely based in the Gaspe region on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.

Samsung is a relative newcomer to the green energy business and says it is using expertise from its other heavy industry divisions, including its shipbuilding group, to manufacture wind turbines.

And it is not the only Korean firm pushing into the North American green energy market. Last year, Hyundai Heavy Industries moved into wind turbine manufacturing and has also been pushing to make inroads into the United States.

Source: http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/samsung-signs-66-billion-deal-to-build-wind-and-solar-power-in-ontario/