Space-based solar power
James Samuel
Wikipedia's entry on this subject
Space-based solar power (SBSP) (or historically space solar power (SSP)) is a system for the collection of solar power in space, for use on Earth. SBSP differs from the usual method of solar power collection in that the solar panels used to collect the energy would reside on a satellite in orbit, often referred to as a solar power satellite (SPS), rather than on Earth's surface. In space, collection of the Sun's energy is unaffected by the day/night cycle, weather, seasons, or the filtering effect of Earth's atmospheric gases. Average solar energy per unit area outside Earth's atmosphere is on the order of ten times that available on Earth's surface[citation needed].
The collection of solar energy in space for use on Earth introduces the new problem of transmitting energy from the collection point, in space, to the place where the energy would be used, on Earth's surface. Since wires extending from Earth's surface to an orbiting satellite would be impractical, many SBSP designs have proposed the use of microwave beams to transmit power wirelessly. The collecting satellite would convert solar energy into electrical energy, which would then be used to power a microwave emitter directed at a collector on the Earth's surface. Dynamic solar thermal power systems are also being investigated.
Many problems normally associated with solar power collection would be eliminated by such a design, such as the high sensitivity of conventional surface solar panels to corrosion and weather, and the resulting maintenance costs. Other problems may take their place though, such as cumulative radiation damage or micrometeoroid impacts.
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The above is a clip from the article, which I was led to as I was reading the Energy section of the Millenium Project's report
I figured it was worthy of a look, to see how think tanks are looking at the issues we have been looking at through our transition lenses.
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The Millennium Project is a global participatory futures research think tank of futurists, scholars, business planners, and policy makers who work for international organizations, governments, corporations, NGOs, and universities. The Millennium Project manages a coherent and cumulative process that collects and assesses judgements from its several hundred participants to produce the annual "State of the Future", "Futures Research Methodology" series, and special studies such as the State of the Future Index, Future Scenarios for Africa, Lessons of History, Environmental Security, Applications of Futures Research to Policy, and a 700+ annotated scenarios bibliography.
It connects local and global perspectives via regional Nodes (groups of individuals and institutions) in Argentina (Buenos Aires); Australasia (Melbourne, Australia); Azerbaijan (Baku); Bolivia (La Paz/Santa Cruz); Brazil (Sao Paulo); Brussels-Area (Brussels); Central Europe (Prague, Czech Republic, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, and Warsaw, Poland); Canada (Kingston); Chile (Santiago); China (Beijing); Cyber Node, Internet; Egypt (Cairo); Finland (Helsinki); France (Paris); Germany (Essen/Berlin); Gulf Region (Kuwait); India (New Delhi and Madurai); Iran (Tehran); Italy (Rome); Japan (Tokyo); Korea (Seoul); Mexico, Mexico; Peru (Lima); Russian Federation (Moscow); Silicon Valley (US); Slovenia (Ljubljana); South Africa (Pretoria-Johannesburg); Turkey (Istanbul); United Arab Emirates (Dubai); UK (London); Venezuela (Caracas); Washington, DC (coordinating office).