According to Interesting Engineering, 26-year-old innovator Ben Novak has developed a way to generate solar energy at night. Nowack is a former SpaceX employee and is currently the CEO of Tons of Mirrors. His company’s main goal is to replace fossil fuels by making solar energy cheaper and more accessible than ever.
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Solar panels are pictured on the surface of a reservoir in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on the border with Syria on September 4, 2022.
Plan
Nowack plans to install a special facility on the International Space Station (ISS) with large mirrors and a collimator device to direct nighttime sunlight to solar panels on our planet.
With this, the ISS will function as an orbital solar reflector. For Nowack, his original plan was to surround the Earth with a long vacuum tube that would direct sunlight using mirrors in space. But he made changes to this idea because he was not frugal.
Instead, he created a structure consisting of multiple parabolic mirrors and collimator plates. Nowack thinks this design is scalable, efficient and cost-effective.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow are working on space-based satellite solar reflector technology that will allow large solar farms to receive enough sunlight during peak energy demand.
In addition, China plans to launch three artificial satellites into space by the end of the year, capable of generating bright lights that could replace street lights in the country.
Nowack told Vice, “With solar panels out there today, it’s a $20 billion a year industry. What I’m building is bigger than the markets they have right now. If it’s an electric solution, and let’s say 200 years from now, it’s going to replace fossil fuels. it’s a $17 trillion market.”
Also read: ‘Solar Facade’: These Installed Solar Panels Produce 50 Times More Energy Than Standard Panels!
The future
Nowack is currently raising funds to purchase the collimator plates installed on the ISS. In addition, it plans to launch satellites equipped with the same technology in the future.
This does not come without challenges. In fact, there are several challenges when it comes to space-based solar reflector technology. First, the amount of light directed can harm animals, plants, and insects if not properly controlled. It also needs a large area in space.
Nowack is working hard to overcome these challenges and believes that collimator plates could shut down fossil fuel plants around the world. In the future, we may use space-based solar reflector technology to power Earth.
When people think about solar energy and its potential, many think about the cost of installing solar panels on rooftops or the limitations of the technology. But these perceptions are changing with new innovations and advancements.
Apart from space-based solar reflector technology, there are other types of solar energy that people can use. Although the cost of installing solar panels on roofs is still high, it is becoming more affordable.
Related article: The new solar cell uses night vision technology to generate electricity even in complete darkness
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Written by April Fowell
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