[RomanSoldier19]

[SPDSHDW]

How much energy will be lost in the conversion to laser beams and back.

This makes zero sense, Clouds will stop/deflect lasers and maybe microwaves?

[dennisw]

This solar panel arrangement could work as a weapon to cook cities you don’t like.
But first the CCP/PLA has to build this. Which is doubtful.

[alloysteel]

I see a potential problem - anything that moves into this laser or microwave beam would get fried as it was moving. That means an even greater kill-off of birds than meeting up with a wind turbine. And of course a plane full of passengers stands no chance.

What if the beam being sent down to the ground station gets knocked a little askew and is off the receiving antenna? Does this then burn a hole in the changed target area?

It is one thing to collect solar power to run an orbiting satellite, and another altogether to transmit the solar-generated power back to the earth’s surface. Maybe they can run a heavy-duty cable up to the orbiting solar collectors and transmit the power back that way.

[RockyTx]

only a
five-year-old
believes any of this

[Track9]

If history serves, American taxpayers are footing the bill for Chinese R and D.

[Alberta's Child]

This idea is so dumb. Why don’t they just connect the solar arrays to the earth with a 250 mile long extension cord? :-P

[Neverlift]

“great as ground-based solar panels are, occasional cloud cover means that the system often fails to operate at full efficiency.”

Not to mention night time.

[SES1066]

The late Gerald K O’Neil Ph.D (1927-92) promulgated this idea (amongst others) for space commercialization & colonization in the 1970s. At that time, with the plans for a Space Shuttle that could turn-around in weeks, ‘pickup truck in space’, it looked on the cutting edge of feasibility for the concept of “Solar Power Satellites”.

As pointed out, a big problem was the ‘orbit-to-surface’ power transmission. What was proposed was a large microwave rectenna to keep the transmission beam weak enough for safety. Obviously, that optimistic hope died upon reality as cost rose and enthusiasm waned.

[Lazamataz]

To get around this, a team of Chinese scientists and engineers have been working on a way to build a solar power plant in space which will be capable of beaming the stored energy to Earth. The team behind the project claims that if things work out, such a facility could generate about six times as much energy as if it was located on the ground.

Yeah, that could NEVER be repurposed as a weapon.

[I want the USA back]

Those lasers or microwave beams will have enough energy to be dangerous, and can be used as a weapon against China’s enemies. Will our government care?