Are orbiting power plants in our future?

Question

A recent report is urging the government to sponsor a demonstration of the technology used to harness solar power in hopes of spurring private investment.

Rising oil prices have made the technology more appealing, and would reduce the nation's dependence on imported oil and help reduce the production of carbon dioxide.

It would be almost 10 years before energy could be prduced in abundance.

Is there a downside to this?

Answer 1

I really think that all our electricity will come from renewable sources sooner than you think. Our children's children will be amazed that we fought wars for control of energy resources. It will just be there, not even something we have to think about. Nikola Tesla dreamed of wireless energy transmission and worked on it for years before his funding was pulled, and people have been trying to do type of thing for years. With something like solar power plants, I have to ask who is funding it and what's in it for them. How will it be distributed? Does it have enough momentum to push out existing technologies? There's a lot of money invested in the infastructure to distribute electricity and politicians are in bed with the oil and coal industries. Would power lines become obsolete? I'd really like to read more about this report. Please add a link or source if you can!

Answer 2

An orbiting power plant would lose a lot in efficiency, and wouldn't be worth the overhead or the price of keeping it going. We'd be better with Earth-bound solar arrays, wind farms, hydroelectric plants, etc. These technologies are expanding rapidly as well, and used properly can easily meet our electricity needs (read: perhaps not the extent of our wants...), especially if we get power not only from the companies, but install solar panels on homes, cars, office buildings, over parking lots, etc, etc. I don't think we need to turn to orbital systems to generate the power we need, the sun's energy is plenty strong on the Earth's surface.

Answer 3

That has been a dream for almost as long as people have been able to harness the sun for electricity. The biggest problem is getting the power to the surface. You couldn't use wires. You would have to develop a transmission system that doesn't use more power than it produces. Most transmission systems lose electricity over distance, so from space you would lose most of the power. The better solution is to use the stuff we have here first. Solar hot water, wave power, solar furnaces to generate steam for power, stuff like that.

Answer 4

Not going to happen . We are about to come out with a clean renewable abundant clean energy source its just around the corner as soon as the ipo goes threw and yes it has to do with hydrogen . You will be able to convert any car gas or diesel run it 24/7 never have to fuel up . you will be able to lease them for just $50 a month unlimited mileage go around the world if you wish. Any size automobile not sure what there going to charge for a semi truck im thinking100 but don't quot me on that.

After the auto conversions are well on there way they are going to lease home generating units that to you will be able to use as much electricity as you want for one low low price not sure what that will be but I'm sure it will be allot lower then then your light bill it now . Use as much as you want heat your home or cool it light it all night build a green house out back heat it cool it all year round doesn't matter your lease stays the same . being that these units run totally silent and give out no emissions what so ever you can mount them in you basement or out side your call.

Allot of people are having a hard time realizing that our technology is far more advanced then what we are told . This new technology is going to create so much work its going to put America back on top these will be the golden ages for all of us and there will be plenty for the rest of the world .

One more thing it does not use water for those who are wondering

Answer 5

There is a major flaw in that idea of orbiting solar power plants. That would have to be loaded with large expensive batteries to store the energy that when thinking if one that had "crashed" would cause more environmental issues with the acidity. It just doesn't make sense logically. There are other ways to get more environmentally friendly and renewable energy source than solar.

Answer 6

The downside is cost.

You can do almost anything if you are willing to spend enough money.

For any energy source to receive widespread acceptance it must have a cost of production that is close to the lowest cost sources that we have today.

Power from orbiting power plants would have unacceptably high costs of production and enormous losses in the transmission back to earth.

The cost of power from orbiting power plants would be hundreds of times higher than the current cost of power.

Answer 7

I don't think so.

True, solar panels can catch about 4 times more solar power in space because there is no night, no clouds and no air. But you could supply the same amount of power by just building 4 times as many panels and putting them on roof tops. Launching solar panels into space is certainly more expensive than building 4 time as many and just leaving them on the ground.