Enhancing solar energy generation and usage: Orbiting solar reflectors as alternative to energy storage

Abstract

Despite the growth of the solar energy sector, its utilization for energy provision has remained largely limited to hours of daylight. Previous studies have considered the integration of energy storage (ES) with solar farms to charge up using solar energy during daytime and to discharge in other hours. Alternatively, recent advancement in space technology enabling the deployment of orbiting solar reflectors (OSRs) opens a new vista of possibilities for delivery of clean energy services in an environmentally friendly manner. OSRs can provide additional illumination from space to identified large-scale solar farms on the Earth at critical hours of the day thereby enhancing energy generation and extending production hours of the solar farms. This paper investigates enhancing the solar farm output using OSRs as an alternative to energy arbitrage using ES and examines the short-term (annual) profitability and long-term (lifetime) economic viability of investment in either OSR or ES as integration option for the solar PV farm. Studies investigate different cases regarding both technologies as integration options for the solar farm under different market conditions regarding hourly electricity price variation. The obtained results demonstrate that irrespective of the market conditions, the solar farm receives better economic value when integrated with OSR.