RENEWABLE ENERGY
Four thousand metres above sea level in Puno , Peru , another floating solar farm gathers the sun ’ s energy . Supported by the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme , this provides power for isolated communities in allowing farmers to use pressurised irrigation to water their crops and keep the llama population content during the dry season .
Solar power has already been used offplanet , powering Earth ’ s oldest artificial satellite in orbit , Vanguard 1 , launched by NASA in 1958 . The satellite ’ s solar cells died in 1964 , and Vanguard 1 is now one of 3,000 dead satellites still orbiting Earth . Replacing the spacecraft ’ s solar cells would have been a lot more expensive than replacing those on a roof .
However , our Sun has seven billion years of energy left to fuel the solar power industry . Off-planet ideas are sounding less like science fiction and more like reality .
A Solar Station on the Moon From Earth , we see many different Moon phases , but the Sun almost constantly covers one half of the Moon in sunlight - ideal for solar farming . Energy captured there can be sent back to Earth via a wireless transmission . The Japanese company Shimizu is considering building a Luna Ring to capture solar energy , which could be seen from Earth .
62 July 2021