Virtus Solis wants to unlock a new era of reliable low-cost solar power for everyone around the globe. This Michigan-based startup hopes to build the first-ever solar farm in space. The plans of Virtus Solis were presented in April at the International Conference on Energy from Space in London.
John Bucknell is a former SpaceX rocket engineer who founded Virtus Solis in 2019. He suggested using SpaceX's Starship to position a massive solar array in the Molniya orbit. Virtus Solis says this orbit would keep “one or more arrays in line of sight of ground stations 100% of the time.”
After the launch vehicle sends hundreds of satellites to space in a single journey, in-orbit robots would then help assemble the system. The completed system would convert sunlight into electricity and use a microwave receiver to beam focused energy to select Earth stations equipped with rectennas.
Dr. Edward Tate is a cofounder and CTO of Virtus Solis. He said, “A rectenna … it's like an antenna with another circuit added to it that can convert RF into something usable. In fact, the receivers that we've got can be twice as efficient or more than a typical solar plant on the ground.”
Virtus Solis says on its website that “each five and a half foot satellite delivers one kilowatt (kW) of power to ground, “with its power beam able to ‘instantaneously’ deliver energy to fifty percent of the Earth's surface at a given time. Satellites in the ‘highly eccentric’ Molniya orbit take roughly 12 hours to complete a cycle.
If the project is ultimately successful, this could be an attractive clean energy solution. On its website, the Virtus Solis explains why it decided a solar farm in space was the best option.
In part, it mentions the harmful nature of dirty fuels, which release heat-trapping gases and toxic particles when burned. This air pollution has led to an increase in crop-destroying weather events and has also been linked to severe health issues, including some cancers.
On-planet solar farms are unable to harvest energy from the sun around the clock, meaning that battery storage is essential for a grid to provide consistent power.
Virtus Solis says that it believes its technology is scalable, able to integrate with our current solar farms, and will address the challenge of providing reliable solar energy in regions that have long winters with limited daylight.
The startup surely has many years of research on the horizon before its system could be ready for safe and meaningful use. Virtus Solis won't launch its first testing satellite until 2027.
Researchers have been steadily working on Earth-bound solar solutions. These would be much more feasible options to ensure our planet has reliable, non-polluting energy at a low cost.
For example, existing solar systems already save homeowners around $1,500 on their electric bills every year. They can keep the lights on during power outages.
Battery storage is traditionally expensive, as Virtus Solis notes. Although a number of companies have had success using cheap, abundant materials, like crushed rocks or pebbles, to ensure excess renewable power is available for future use.