We did a feasibility “study” of this at Raytheon about forty years ago. It seemed ... impractical ... Actually screwball. I believe our system beamed power down to a remote desert area in the Southwest. Now photovoltaics have come down considerably in price since 1984, but not nearly that much.
I wonder if the total energy generated would ever exceed the energy generated by the fuel to orbit the array.
But it would be “Green”. I say it’s a death ray to fry Kim.
I’m glad you put ‘Green’ in quotation marks. Such a system is a true global warming device, albeit on a inconsequential scale. Ironically it would collect solar radiation, which would normally miss the earth and convert a portion of that power into radiation incident on the earth. Such subtleties are missed by those who feign concern for the environment.