GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Solar Wind Could Power Entire Globe

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 10-11-10 | Comments

Scientists at Washington State University have designed a satellite that harnesses power from solar wind. A large enough satellite could generate 1 billion billion gigawatts�that's more than 100 billion times the power that humanity needs.

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Solar Wind Could Power Entire Globe
Here at Smarter Technology, we've recently brought you the latest news in green power sources�everything from harnessing electricity from lightning to synthetic fuels to self-repairing solar cells. Now scientists from Washington State University could make all of these breakthroughs obsolete. A massive solar sail that harnesses the power in solar wind could produce a staggering amount of electricity�100 billion times more energy than humanity needs.

Washington State University physicists Brooks Harrop and Dirk Schulze-Makuch, whose concept was recently published in the International Journal of Astrobiology, have suggested the use of a solar wind power satellite, which they have named the Dyson-Harrop satellite. In the satellite's design, a copper wire sent into space generates a magnetic field that can capture electrons from solar winds. The electrons are then channeled into a receiver, which produces a current. The wire and receiver could be housed within a circular solar sail.

In theory, the Dyson-Harrop satellite could harvest colossal amounts of power. Even a relatively small model, New Scientist reports, with a 1-centimeter-wide, 300-meter-long copper wire, could create 1.7 megawatts of power�enough to power about 1,000 homes in the United States. A larger model, with a kilometer-long copper wire, could generate upward of a billion billion gigawatts. Such a massive satellite would require a 5,220-mile-wide sail, but its potential is huge: "� actually 100 billion times the power humanity currently requires," says Harrop.

Next: Solar Wind's Immense Speed >>

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