Reflectors placed in orbit around the Earth that reflect sunlight toward future solar power farms at dawn and dusk could help accelerate the transition to net-zero, researchers say.
Space engineers from the University of Glasgow have published new research showing how kilometer-wide orbiting reflectors could boost the output of future large-scale solar farms by reflecting additional sunlight toward them even after the sun has set.
In their paper, “A constellation design for orbiting solar reflectors to enhance terrestrial solar energy,” published as a preprint in the journal Acta Astronautica, the researchers describe how they used sophisticated computer simulations to help determine the most effective method of using orbiting solar reflectors to generate additional power.
