By Jo Nova

We know it’s a cult when we have thousands of years of nuclear power available but scientists want to build giant mirrors in space to reflect the sun onto solar panels on Earth.

We know it’s corrupt when governments won’t pay for research into the suns role in our climate but they’ll give 2.5 million Euros to a wild idea that might rescue their banker and investments friends last technological white elephant. This was funded under “EXCELLENT SCIENCE – European Research Council (ERC)”.

They figure we could get teams of robots into space to assemble vast mirrors that would reflect the sun onto solar plants so they make electricity a bit more often. What could possibly go wrong, apart from mishaps that blind drivers, hurt wildlife, screw body clocks and waste gazillions of dollars?

As the huge reflectors pass over a solar plant, they will wiggle around and point at it to illuminate it “and it’s immediate surroundings”. Thus theoretically extending the working day of the solar panels, and delivering energy at breakfast and dinner time when the peak hour demand is killing our new fragile grids.

Supposedly when the plant on the ground rolls out of view, the giant mirrors will spin themselves edge on to the sun so they stop reflecting sunlight. Just imagine the maintenance nightmare and cost blowouts possible with large precision space infrastructure? Not to mention what happens when the software goes wrong, or hostile cyberhackers play “spot light” with highways, airports and military installations. How much fun can you have with a 10 kilometer wide beam?

Our supposedly best and brightest are publishing hallowed peer reviewed papers on frivolous new ways to rescue the low performing infrastructure that wasn’t economic to build in the first place. The whole plan is to somehow improve the weather on Earth by reducing fossil fuel use, starting by burning truckloads of fossil fuels to mine and launch kilotons of metal into space?

The Conversion

REFERENCE (seriously)

Viale et al (2023) A reference architecture for orbiting solar reflectors to enhance terrestrial solar power plant output, Advances in Space Research, Volume 72, Issue 4, 15 August 2023, Pages 1304-1348

Grants: Enhancing Global Clean Energy Services Using Orbiting Solar Reflectors, grant agreement No. 883730 Cordis ERC: €2,496,392  ” CRM is also supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering under the Chair in Emerging Technologies scheme. We also thank Sun Cable for sharing information on their solar power farm.”