Solar power from space

Picture this: a 6-mile-wide solar-power satellite orbiting 22,000 miles in space. Photo-sensitive panels on the satellite collect light from the sun and turn it into microwave radiation that an antenna beams down to a ground station, where it’s converted into enough electricity to power a large city.

Sound like science fiction? Last year, a government study group issued a report that said space-based solar power not only was technically feasible but also offered a potentially clean, renewable source of energy that could significantly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
Solar and wind power on Earth are being harnessed successfully as alternative energy sources. But solar energy from space could generate as much power as all the world’s known oil reserves combined, the report stated. It called for a crash program to build a prototype solar-power satellite and ground station over the next decade.

Baltimore Sun