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Reflect Orbital tackles one of solar energy’s primary drawbacks: its incapacity to provide electricity after dark. (Photo Credits: X)
The startup aims to power solar farms with sunlight reflected from satellites, allowing them to generate more power even after the sunset.
Reflect Orbital, a California-based start-up, has proposed an innovative strategy to increase world energy consumption by supplying sunlight after sunset. The startup, founded by CEO Ben Nowack, intends to redirect sunlight on Earth’s solar panels at night, effectively “selling sunlight” on demand.
In April, Nowack presented this initiative at the International Conference on Energy from Space in London. The solution solves a major shortcoming of solar energy: its inability to create power after dark. The start-up is “developing a constellation of revolutionary satellites to sell sunlight to thousands of solar farms after dark,” Ben Nowack said.
Sharing a bit more about Reflect Orbital today. @4TristanS and I are developing a constellation of revolutionary satellites to sell sunlight to thousands of solar farms after dark.We think sunlight is the new oil and space is ready to support energy infrastructure. This… pic.twitter.com/5WRb8etAv0
— Ben Nowack (@bennbuilds) March 13, 2024
The goal is to power solar farms with sunlight reflected from satellites, providing additional electricity long after sunset.
The objective is to send 57 miniature satellites into space, each outfitted with 33-square-foot ultra-reflective mylar mirrors. These mirrors are intended to reflect sunlight to Earth, with a focus on solar farms at peak demand times.
According to Nowack, this technique might give solar power plants an extra 30 minutes of sunlight, providing a critical boost during periods of heavy energy use.
The Reflect Orbital team, which comprises Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Tri Semmelhack, has put their notion to the test. According to a recent X post, they connected an 8-by-8-foot mylar mirror to a hot air balloon, reflecting sunlight onto solar panels delivered to the spot by truck.
This reflected light produced an amazing 500 watts of energy per square meter of the panel. The team’s field experiments verified the concept’s practicality, and they published their findings in a March YouTube video. After weeks of testing, they successfully reflected light from the mirror onto the solar panels at a distance of 242 meters (almost 800 feet).
By launching its orbiting mirror in 2025, Reflect Orbital hopes to enable solar power to be available whenever needed. Interested individuals keen to “apply for sunlight” in the months ahead have already sent the company over 30,000 applications.