A space solar energy prototype was able to transmit energy from space and direct it to specific locations on Earth. Launched in January, the prototype Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1) is the first space device in the Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Wireless power transmission was demonstrated using MAPLE, one of the SSPD-1 experiments. It has a set of microwave energy transmitters directed by custom electronic chips, and manages to guide the energy to the desired location.
Ali Hajimiri, one of the members of the project, says that the experiments confirmed that MAPLE can deliver energy to receivers in space. “We were also able to program the facility to direct energy to Earth, and we detected it at Caltech,” he added.
MAPLE has two receivers, installed a little further away from the transmitters. They receive the energy and convert it into a direct electrical current, which lit a pair of LEDs and thus demonstrated the complete sequence of energy transmission in space without wires.
Each LED was lit individually, and since the experiment is not sealed, it was exposed to conditions in space — including changes in temperature and radiation. “To our best knowledge, no one has ever demonstrated energy transfer in space even with rigid and expensive structures,” Hajimiri noted.
The device also has a small opening, through which the structure directs the energy beams. The signal was detected, and exhibited time and frequency as expected by scientists. Now, the team is analyzing the performance of system elements to develop new generations of technology.
Source: Caltech
