I like this better...
The idea is simple: You build large assemblages of solar cells on Earth, where they convert sunlight into electricity and beam it to receiving stations on the ground right next to them. This is just an expensive boondoggle, and it ain't ready to go, while we need it now.
Simpler and cheaper, without the expenses of the space program.
You could build a lot of panels for the price of one trip into space. US can meet its electricity needs by putting solar on 1/4 the roofs, or by entirely covering my county with panels. That's all it takes. The space is there to do it on the ground. You can turn out a lot of panels in the time it takes to build one rocket.
Solar thermal is the same, and we have lots of desert...
Solar Thermal Plants Could Supply U.S. Energy Needs: Report
The report, On the Rise: Solar Thermal Power and the Fight Against Global Warming, concludes that a patch of solar arrays some 100 x 100 miles could power the country. That's slightly more than what’s already been excavated for strip mining for coal, the group notes.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has identified the potential for more than 7,000 gigawatts (GW) of concentrating solar power generation on lands in the Southwest — more than six times current U.S. electricity consumption. When the sun isn't shining, the plants could release stored energy
thedailygreen.com
Europe, too...sort of...
In this CGD working paper, Kevin Ummel and senior fellow David Wheeler focus on a leading candidate for investment: solar thermal or concentrating solar power (CSP), a commercially available technology that uses direct sunlight and mirrors to boil water and drive conventional steam turbines. Solar thermal power production in North Africa and the Middle East could provide enough power to Europe to meet the needs of 35 million people by 2020.
envirovaluation.org
The only advantage? If a construction worker gets hurt, nobody can hear him scream in space. |
