Times of India Article featuring Professor Stephen Sweeney

Wednesday 9 November 2011

A team from the University of Surrey, led by Stephen Sweeney, Professor of Physics and head of the Photonics group, is working in partnership with space technology organisation, EADS-Astrium to create a space platform that uses lasers to beam solar energy back to the earth.

“It's the stuff of science fiction — space platforms using lasers to beam solar energy back to Earth — but the reality of a solar powered satellite system has become much closer. Over time, the technology has the potential to be a long-term and major source of clean and inexhaustible energy," says Professor Sweeney.

Explaining the project, Sweeney says that through technology, they will be able to provide power to people in isolated areas. "Satellites with photovoltaic (solar) cells capture the sun's energy, which is beamed by laser to another set of photovoltaic cells on the Earth's surface. With technologies available now, a single launched satellite would be capable of providing roughly 10 kilowatts to the ground end-user with a laser powered transmission system. These 'off-grid' power sources would then be operational in advance of the development of the real goal, the very large scale mega and giga-watt orbiting solar power stations which could provide significant supplies of power to grids, not necessarily as a single solution to energy needs, but as an important part of a suite of renewable energy sources," says Sweeney.

For more information see the Times of India article.