It was created three years ahead of schedule
China's Xidian University has completed the construction of the world's first integrated system for ground-based testing of space solar energy. The 75-meter-high steel structure located at the southern campus of the University of Xian in Xi'an in northern China contains subsystems for testing the concept of space-based solar power (SBSP). He passed the acceptance control on June 5, according to the university statement, three years ahead of schedule.
The facility is designed to collect solar energy and convert it into electricity. It is then converted into microwaves for transmission through an antenna at a distance of 55 meters. The system includes technologies for light concentration and photovoltaic conversion, energy conversion into microwaves, microwave transmission and waveform optimization, measurement and control of the direction of the microwave beam, as well as microwave reception and rectification.
The work was led by Academician Duan Baoyang, a leading Chinese expert on SBSP, who stated the following:
Xidian University of China is developing its own concept of generating and transmitting electricity in a geostationary orbit, the Orb-Shape Membrane Energy Gathering Array (SSPS OMEGA). Also in China, another concept of a solar power plant is being worked out — Multi-Rotary (MR SPS), or a multi-turn station that will change the angle of inclination of solar panels for optimal energy generation.
The Chinese Academy of Space Technology last year carried out the transmission of microwave energy over a distance of 300 meters, using a payload on board a small airship and receivers on board a marine research vessel.
