Space Based Solar Power
Join us for a webinar session exploring Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP), the groundbreaking concept of harvesting solar energy in space and beaming it back to Earth.
Unlike terrestrial renewables, satellites in geostationary orbit receive sunlight continuously, enabling uninterrupted clean energy generation unaffected by weather or the day–night cycle. By transmitting power wirelessly to Earth, SBSP could deliver flexible, sustainable energy to even the most remote or disaster-affected regions.
This webinar will delve into how SBSP works, the latest technological developments, and the role of the Space Energy Initiative (SEI) in driving the UK’s leadership in this emerging field. Discover how innovations in materials, aerospace engineering, and wireless power transmission could transform the global energy landscape.
What to expect:
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The science and engineering behind SBSP
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The potential for continuous, zero-carbon energy
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UK research and collaboration opportunities
Agenda overview: |
| 13:00 | Welcome Address - Stuart Irvine, Emeritus professor, Swansea University |
13:05 |
Space-Based Solar Power for a secure, equitable and sustainable future David A. Homfray CEng CPhys FInstP FBIS, CTO, Space Solar |
13:25 |
Beyond the Satellite: Scaling Photovoltaics for Space-Based Solar Power Dr Dan Lamb CChem MRSC, Swansea University |
13:55 |
Wireless Power Transfer in Space-Based Solar Power Dr Neil Buchanan, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen’s University Belfast |
14:20 |
Into the unknown: the known and unknown challenges of very large space structures Dr Alex J Elliott, Centre for Resilient Space Systems, Cranfield University |
| 14:45 | Final Comments & Close |
| 15:00 | Close of Event |
Session chair: |
Presenters:David Homfray CEng CPhys FInstP FBIS Dr Alex Elliott Dr Dan Lamb CChem MRSC Dr Neil Buchanan |
Abstracts:David Homfray: Space-Based Solar Power for a secure, equitable and sustainable future
The clock is ticking to Net Zero and replacing the worlds reliance on fossil fuels requires not only an acceleration in the build of current low carbon technologies but also the development of new. Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) has been technically feasible since the 1960's but only now with the reduction of cost in launch and space hardware has the economics now also become attractive. Moving solar panels into space, free of night and weather, beaming down the energy via microwaves delivers much needed baseload energy. SBSP has several attractive features including the ability for a single spacecraft to instantaneously deliver power across a quarter of the globe and unlike other baseload solutions can be manufactured at scale to deliver several GW's per year of capacity. This talk will discuss the opportunity and imperative of SBSP and how the world is responding to that opportunity.
Dan Lamb: Beyond the Satellite: Scaling Photovoltaics for Space-Based Solar PowerA central challenge for SBSP is the photovoltaic technology itself: ultra-light, radiation-tolerant solar power generation deployed at scales far beyond those of current satellites. This talk will outline the materials science factors that govern PV performance and lifetime in orbit — including radiation damage, thermal cycling, and degradation mechanisms — and will compare established III–V multijunction devices with emerging approaches such as epitaxial lift-off and thin-film chalcogenides, which may offer significant advantages in mass per watt and scalability for large deployable arrays. Alex Elliott: Into the unknown: the known and unknown challenges of very large space structures
SBSP satellites will be the largest systems ever constructed, with added complications from the extreme space environment, couplings with AOCS, and reliable pointing requirements. In this talk, Dr Elliott will be presenting an overview of the current and future challenges associated with space structures at this unprecedented scale, based on new and established research on complex and nonlinear vibrations, and the research and innovation required to allow reliable SBSP performance.
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