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Palau May Get Satellite Power In the Next Decade

Posted by kdawson on from the working-on-the-tan dept.

davidwr writes "The island nation of Palau is looking into creating a satellite-to-ground power transmission system. The system would use low-orbit satellites to transmit power to a receiver in bursts, unlike some other plans which rely on geostationary satellites. The initial 1-megawatt project is supposed to go online 'as early as' 2012 for a cost of $0.8 billion. Time will tell if this can be made cost-effective compared to traditional solar or other sources of power."

6 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Just a demo by dunadan67 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The description here is a bit misleading. From the sound of the article, Palau is really just a testbed for this technology. I'm assuming that they aren't footing any of the bill that is about 6X their GDP.

    1. Re:Just a demo by gerrytucker · · Score: 5, Informative

      I normally don't take the time to reply to Slashdot posts, but for some reason this response really jumped out at me. After really reading the article, not just one paragraph out of context, the reader clearly understands that a U.S. business man proposed this demo at an international conference and has German and Swiss partners in the project. Furthermore, they are going to be using one of the uninhabited islands as a safety precaution. The only mention of the U.S. military is that they did a 75 page study on the idea of transmitting power for military operations. After that, it only talks about the businessmen. Hardly the picture of the "war machine" pushing around a tiny nation which for some reason was scored as Informative.

  2. urban re-design and development by User+956 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The island nation of Palau is looking into creating a satellite-to-ground power transmission system.

    I'm sure the US Army already has such a thing, although they probably plan on using it to make glass parking lots.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  3. Asimov by radius1214 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Isaac Asimov wrote about a power source like this in "I, Robot." There were stations in space that absorbed solar energy and transmitted it back to Earth. If the ray became out of align, or if a magnetic storm intercepted the ray on its way toward the receptacle on the ground, it would distort the energy causing severe damage to huge portions of the planet. In the case of Palau, if they can get this technology working properly, it would be interesting to see how the United States or the EU would use this to aid their combat against global warming and non-renewable energy. Maybe the Space Station will get equipped with a huge solar array to send renewable energy down to Earth, eh?

    --
    --"Forget the nectar of the Gods, just give me some Mountain Dew."
  4. What kind of boondoggle is this? by SKorvus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They're paying $800 per watt, when a company is now shipping solar panels that cost under $1/watt, AND have a single, expensive point of failure? What is the point of beaming solar energy down from space, to a tropical island?

    Ground-based solar including panels and batteries could be built local to each home or village, at a fraction of the cost of this over-engineered idea.

    --
    Live simply, that others may simply live. -Gandhi
  5. Something about water and melanin by C10H14N2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Brown people surrounded by large bodies of water are better equipped to deal with being bombarded by intense solar radiation than white people surrounded by large buildings.