The government is to invest £4.3 million in the space-based solar power industry that has “huge potential to boost the UK’s energy security.”
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps announced the multi-million government funding on Tuesday, saying that he wants “the UK to boldly go where no country has gone before—boosting our energy security by getting our power directly from space.”
Space-based solar power systems collect the energy from the sun using panels on satellites. The power is then distributed to Earth wirelessly in the form of microwaves to dedicated receiver stations.
Four universities and four companies will receive funding from the government’s Space Based Solar Power Innovation Competition (pdf)….