If a proper cable could be made, perhaps it could house a superconductor inside or if carbon nanotubes could be used direct transmission of the energy would be possible. Not to mention getting the panels up to space would be much more cost effective and continually expandable. Maintenance would be easy.

The energy production is constant, if the moneys available, whatever the cost, it would eventually pay for itself.

Don’t forget the problems of cooling terrestrial solar PVs too. I think this is a great idea.

This is the same problem face by Nikola Tesla when he built his wardenclyffe. Banker stop financing him because there is no way to meter the usage without a power grid. Energy will be free only when the money creator found an alternative to summon human needs like food an water.

“Death ray” claims are ridiculous. As are “NIMI” claims. It beats terrestrial PV hollow: terrestrial only gets 10% of the sun’s energy, max, at source, & only in daylight. Not to mention it PERMANENTLY puts millions of acres in shadow. (Boy, that’s eco-friendly…)

The idea is very tempting. Two small thoughts: in the past a lot of ideas surrounding the generation of vast amounts of energy have been re-used in what we have done very successfully throughout our history: making weapons. Especially the idea of huge amounts of energy being targeted towards earth. Second, if we want to really have 24/7 energy, i think a more global energy network would be appropriate. Not an expert at all on it but maybe here superconducting can help?

Both points bring forward the idea that a truly green energy future will be possible only if we work together on a global scale, for developing the technologies, making the necessary investments and combining different sources of energy together for all mankind.

My question would be, what happens to a satellite in low earth orbit that passes through the energy transmission beam of the solar power generation satellite orbiting above it?

As said before, at $21 per watt, this should stay a pipe dream.

The two most popular at the moment; solar & wind are not a constant. Solar is good as it generates during peak need hours. Wind because the technology is relatively mature, is easy to harvest and can come close to competing on a cost basis with fossils. However, we need more. We need technologies that can produce 24 hours a day. The world is moving towards, plug-in hybrids and ev’s. This will increase power needs at night when they all will be charging.

To say geo-thermal is not efficient is not true. It depends on the location for the most part. Calpine owns a geo-thermal plant at The Geysers in Sonoma County, CA. This plant is a cash cow for the company. The company went bankrupt because it also had natural gas power plants and negotiated bad contracts for gas prices. If not for the Geo-thermal plant, the company would have folded instead of being able to restructure itself.

Geo-thermal is not a good idea for anywhere. It requires that the area be geologically active close enough to the surface for it to be worth the investment.

As to the idea of generating solar from space. We have way too much space junk floating in space already. All it takes is a paint chip from a destroyed satellite that is moving at 10,000 miles per hour and the solar generating satellite is out of commission. Not just a possibility but probable unless put in a high orbit. This is not a bad idea, but we aren’t quite there yet. The money and resources that will go into this should be applied to other technologies (cellulosic ethanol, algal bio-diesel for example).

I too believe that solar panels (or even solar cells) are important for the future. Installing houses with them is not only practical but a worthwhile investment for the future. People should take it upon themselves to PERSONALLY take a step in the right direction.

This is not a competitive cost target. 2030 cost targets for alternatives are many times lower.

This is a serious case of NIMLI: Not In My Lifetime.

Cheers from webweaver

Microwave receivers can be spread over a large area. They might consist of a large number of Dish TV size dishes on on top of telephone polls spaced at a surprising distance from each other. The power will arrive at a low, safe density and be collected by a large number of small antennas which should not be very intrusive or bothersome.