{"id":3921,"date":"2014-08-19T18:18:34","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T07:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=3921"},"modified":"2017-10-25T10:01:08","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T23:31:08","slug":"solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar breakthroughs by the dozen but what of the future?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"idea<\/a>

The breakthroughs just keep on comin’<\/p><\/div>\n

This week two news items have proved that innovation in the solar energy sector is not only alive and humming but well on the way to shaping our energy future. The first is based on nothing new. Indeed it was originally proposed in a 1941 story by science fiction author Isaac Asimov.<\/p>\n

With climate change now threatening our very survival as a species \u2014 according to the more downbeat of scientific studies \u2014 and with a general lack of political will to do anything about it, it may take something completely from left field to save the planet. Enter solar energy and the Asimov proposal.<\/p>\n

Essentially the idea involves orbiting solar panels which beam endless solar energy to a transmitter on Earth for our power needs. The potential for supplying our Earth with solar energy \u2014 thereby massively reducing our dependence on fossil fuel energy \u2014 is enormous.<\/p>\n

However as discussed here in our April 28 article<\/a>, the idea has jumped from the realms of science fiction into the blueprint mode. Indeed some serious backers have entered the \u201csolar panel in space\u201d debate. One is US-based solar company Solaren<\/a>, who predict we will see a version of this space-based solar power by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n

Paul Jaffe, a spacecraft engineer at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory<\/a> agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you put the solar panel in space, it\u2019s going to be illuminated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 99% of the year,\u201d Jaffe told Business Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The key is \u201ceven on the night side of the Earth [the satellite could] be in sunlight almost all the time,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The second piece of news covers the latest (and perhaps more prosaic) research by the highly-respected Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)<\/a>. While not as eye-catching, the research may have just a revolutionary effect because of the research improvements in the way solar panels absorb the sun\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n

The technology is a combination of graphite flakes atop carbon foam which floats on a body of water. This traps solar energy in the top layer, which is released as steam in the uppermost surface. According to Hadi Ghasemi, from MIT\u2019s Department of Mechanical Engineering, the reductions in cost are potentially huge.<\/p>\n

Ghasemi told Sourceable.net<\/a> that: \u201cSteam is important for desalination, hygiene systems, and sterilisation,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially in remote areas where the sun is the only source of energy, if you can generate steam with solar energy, it would be very useful.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While these uses are vitally important, your correspondent wonders how long before we see a version of this technology powering our current thermal coal fired power stations?<\/p>\n

We can see that innovation in the solar energy sector, both from left and right field, is ongoing with new, exciting developments being reported almost daily. But what of the future? Perhaps the next breakthrough research we next expect to hear about is the work done on solar storage. This is the real game changer. While the technology currently exists to store solar energy efficiently (someone should tell our PM this), making it affordable for households is the next challenge.<\/p>\n

In short, storage needs to charge down the cost curve in the same way as have solar panels in recent years. Indeed most involved in the solar battery industry say this is just a matter of time.<\/p>\n

We’ll keep you posted as the expected storage developments come through!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week two news items have proved that innovation in the solar energy sector is not only alive and humming but well on the way to shaping our energy future. The first is based on nothing new. Indeed it was originally proposed in a 1941 story by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. With climate change […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[476,63],"class_list":["post-3921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-utility-scale-solar","tag-solar-innovation-space-solar-panels","tag-solar-panel-technology","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSolar breakthroughs by the dozen but what of the future? - SolarQuotes Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This week two news items have proved that innovation in the solar energy sector is not only alive and humming but well on the way to shaping our energy future.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Solar breakthroughs by the dozen but what of the future?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week two news items have proved that innovation in the solar energy sector is not only alive and humming but well on the way to shaping our energy future.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-19T07:48:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-24T23:31:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/idea-rocket.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Staff Writer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cdfada92425341cb1b48bf0bcfa1feb7\"},\"headline\":\"Solar breakthroughs by the dozen but what of the future?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-19T07:48:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-24T23:31:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/\"},\"wordCount\":587,\"commentCount\":12,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/idea-rocket.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"solar innovation. space solar panels\",\"Solar Technology\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Big Solar\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-breakthroughs-dozen-future\/\",\"name\":\"Solar breakthroughs by the dozen but what of the future? 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