(Space-based solar) Wireless Power Transfer: The Airbus vision

Energy challenges are arguably the most pressing for our society today: the source of energy, its distribution, and strategic control. Power beaming technology addresses all of these challenges. It enables the transfer of energy across air and space, via beams – similarly to how we transmit data today. It removes the need for cables, using focused microwave beams. Taken to space, it unlocks the world´s only persistent renewable energy source: The Sun in space. While all other renewables on Earth are intermittent, solar energy in space is available 24/7 at maximum power, making it ideal for baseload grid capacity. A solar farm deployed in space could beam green energy to Earth on demand, where it is needed, with full strategic control over the energy network. Closer to the ground, power beaming could also redefine energy networks by making them flexible and easily deployable. This talk will introduce the concept, and present how Airbus is pioneering the technology in Europe.