One operating out of Santa Monica, California, has caught everyone’s attention with a concept that sounds straight out of science fiction. Reflect Orbital is one more fledgling technology firm that makes the headlines with its unparalleled proposition of selling sunlight when it does not exist. You read it right: sunlight when the sun isn’t out.
The mission, but quite ambitiously, is to make sunlight available on demand. Imagine a world where the sun never really sets, or ordering a shot of sun is like ordering food or a ride. By using an app that works on the same principle as these delivery services, Reflect Orbital will be able to do just that. Instead of pizza or groceries, it delivers sunlight reflected from space directly to where you are.
🔥🚨BREAKING: A company that is selling sunlight at night that can be purchased from your phone is going viral across the internet for this impressive and futuristic concept.
Reflect Orbital has developed an app where you can order sunlight, reflected from a satellite direct to… PIC.TWITTER.COM/QM1EKRG5WA
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) AUGUST 24, 2024
This is not an act; it will change the face of solar energy and outdoor activities. The technology behind the idea involves launching satellites equipped with giant reflective surfaces into low Earth orbit. Such satellites will capture sunlight and reflect it to Earth in targeted locations. Because of this, solar farms would continue operating even after the sun has set below the horizon, potentially offering an additional 30 minutes of sunlight where needed most.
At the core of Reflect Orbital’s concept is what its CEO, Ben Nowack, calls “Sunlight-as-a-Service.” He foresees when light from the sun will finally become more like a commodity, like oil or electricity.
Nowack says, “We think sunlight is the new oil,” drawing an analogy between this renewable resource and what has driven humanity’s energy markets. Commoditizing sunlight means making it always available, which means changing everything about how we think of solar energy and how we use it.
The inspiration behind this idea is certainly not new at all. It hearkens back to earlier attempts by people who wanted to harness sunlight from space—the Russian Znamya project dating back to the 1990s. However, Reflect Orbital’s technology is much more advanced and uses new technology to make a promise that nighttime sunlight will soon turn into a reality.
This vision can only be realized after considerable challenges have been seized. The launch and maintenance of a fleet of satellites that would satisfactorily reflect sunlight in any chosen area are no small logistic tasks. Accordingly, the cost of such operations, coupled with proving the effectiveness of this technology on a larger scale, will be one of the major reasons for the company.
Reflect Orbital has already trialed the concept with a smaller-scale experiment. This morning, a business used a hot-air balloon kitted out with a big mirror to reflect sunlight onto a mobile solar farm. The promising results prove that engineers can generate electricity even when the sun is not shining overhead.
Now, the company is working on its next big step: deploying its first satellites into orbit. The satellites will be concentrated in a special helix orbit over regions with dense solar farms, such as California or Spain. Reflect Orbital aims to garner extra hours of operations from solar energy systems by reflecting more sunlight over them using its satellites, hence making them more efficient and productive.
The potential benefits of Reflect Orbital’s technology extend far beyond the energy sector. This service could change our lives, particularly in remote areas with poor electricity supply. Consider that some villages grappling with incessant outages should, at long last, have a sure source of light and energy at night; this could be seminal regarding the implications for safety, productivity, and quality of life. It’s more than just daylight hours, extended to make way for many other things possible outdoors, such as concerts, sports games, or festivals, now able to go far into the night under the warm glow of reflected sunlight.
While interest in the Reflect Orbital idea is high, one must be careful about the attendant environmental responsibilities. The company is very concerned about the real issue of light pollution and is taking steps to deal with it. Satellites are designed to reflect sunlight only to certain targets, damping unnecessary illumination of other areas. Reflect Orbital is working in close conjunction with astronomers and regulatory bodies to ensure that its technology will not disturb observations of the celestial bodies or interfere with the natural night-time environment.
Reflect Orbital is only getting off the ground, but the buzz based on its concept of selling sunlight at night is already immense. The world holds a collective breath as the first satellites go up, anticipating a futuristic idea to take off. If successful, Reflect Orbital could fundamentally change how we view energy, light, and our place vis-à-vis the sun.
As much as sunlight on demand sounds like a fantasy today, it might soon become an everyday reality with technological progress. For now, we can only wait and watch as Reflect Orbital aims to light up the night in a way we’ve never seen before.
