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Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) and India
Could We Soon Have Space-Based Solar Panels?
Context: India targets 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 and net-zero by 2070, with solar energy as a key driver. However, terrestrial solar faces challenges of intermittency, land use, and weather dependence. Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP), which captures continuous solar energy in space and transmits it to Earth, offers a promising solution to overcome these barriers.
How can space-based solar panels augment India’s renewable energy production?
- 24/7 Uninterrupted Solar Power: Unlike ground-based solar plants, SBSP can harvest continuous sunlight in geostationary orbit, unaffected by cloud cover, nighttime, or seasonal changes. This allows dispatchable, base-load power, overcoming the intermittency issues of solar and wind.
- Higher Solar Radiation in Space: Solar irradiance in space is 30–40% greater than on Earth’s surface, improving energy output per unit area.
- Land Conservation: SBSP reduces the need for vast land tracts required by terrestrial solar farms, a key concern in densely populated or agriculturally important regions.
- Strategic Energy Security: With growing energy demands and geopolitical uncertainties in fuel supply, SBSP can provide a strategic, self-reliant, and zero-carbon energy source.
- Technological and Industrial Leadership: Investing in SBSP can place India at the cutting edge of space-tech and energy innovation, potentially creating a new high-tech manufacturing ecosystem. It aligns with India’s ISRO capabilities and private space sector momentum under the IN-SPACe initiative.
- Support for Remote and Border Areas: SBSP can be ideal for off-grid or inaccessible regions, including border outposts, island territories, or disaster zones.
What are the major challenges associated with it?
- High Capital and Launch Costs: A single functional SBSP unit would require hundreds of heavy launches, costing billions of dollars, far exceeding conventional energy infrastructure.
- Infrastructure Requirements: The space-based solar arrays may span over a kilometre, while ground receiver stations would require 10+ km of land – creating technical, environmental, and regulatory challenges.
- Transmission Technology Risks: Beaming energy via microwaves or lasers from orbit to Earth involves safety, efficiency, and signal attenuation issues. Potential risks to aviation, communication, and biological life if not properly managed.
- Orbital Congestion & Space Debris: Deployment in geostationary orbit adds to concerns over space traffic management, collision risk, and debris accumulation.
- Operational Complexity: Real-time alignment, maintenance, thermal management, and resilience to space radiation are yet unsolved at commercial scales.
- Regulatory & International Concerns: Lack of clear global norms around wireless energy transmission, spectrum allocation, and cross-border energy beaming raises legal and diplomatic challenges.
What steps are required to address the challenges?
- Invest in R&D and Prototyping: Support collaborative R&D between ISRO, DRDO, IITs, and global agencies like ESA/NASA to test small-scale SBSP prototypes and refine key technologies like beam rectennas, lightweight materials, and power conversion systems.
- Private Sector and Start-up Involvement: Encourage India’s space-tech startups under the IN-SPACe framework to explore low-cost, modular components, and launch innovation.
- International Collaboration: Join or co-lead global initiatives on SBSP such as the European Space Agency’s Solaris Programme or future BRICS-led cooperative missions.
- Space and Ground Infrastructure Planning: Identify and acquire land for safe ground-based receiving stations, while planning satellite slots in conjunction with international orbital guidelines.
- Cost Reduction Through Reusability: Leverage ISRO’s work on reusable launch vehicles (RLV) and modular satellite assembly in orbit to bring down costs over the long term.
- Regulatory Framework and Public Dialogue: Formulate clear guidelines on microwave beaming safety, land use, and cross-sectoral coordination, involving ministries of defence, space, energy, and environment.
- Long-term Roadmap and Pilots: Draft a National SBSP Roadmap (2030–2050), with defined milestones, such as: Ground-based high-altitude beaming experiments, Near-space (stratospheric) solar balloon pilots, LEO-based small-scale SBSP demos.
