Scientists in the county could be at the forefront of a project which would see solar farms operating from space.

Space Solar Limited, based in Harwell, has shown interest in the project and would be involved if the UK signs up to the European Space Agency project - Solaris.

The intention of the project is to beam electricity back to earth.

Read more: Support is needed during year-long Botley Road closure says councillor

Sam Adlen, Co-chair of Space Solar Limited, speaking to BBC Radio Oxford, said: “These would be large solar rays up in space, and the reason the economics works is because up in space, compared to putting your panels on the ground, you get thirteen times more instant energy.

“Because they see the sun all the time, they get continuous energy, and you can get power down which is very competitive versus terrestrial intermittent technologies.

“The system would be assembled robotically in space, and would comprise hundreds of thousands of dinner plate sized modules.

“The ability to do that means you can create all this new large-scale infrastructure which can help us deliver net zero and all sorts of other benefits to humanity.

“The concept we’re working on is to beam the electricity back down to earth by microwave.

“It’s the same kind of technology we’ve seen on radar satellites for decades.

“It’s beamed down to a large receiving antennae – a mesh-like structure – which will then give us a clean, baseload energy which can help us build a bright future.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

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