New photocells, converts light AND heat:

Thats interesting. So we have:
1. More energy per area of pvs. Maybe 20 x more? (energy gained by being above atmosphere x2, energy gained by having more hours x 4, energy gained by avoiding weather x2 ?)
2. Longer hours. This is a benefit not just because of more energy, but because energy storage is difficult.
I am not convinced that 1. is good enough reason for putting them in space. Are they really that expensive?

Originally posted by twhitehead
Thats interesting. So we have:
1. More energy per area of pvs. Maybe 20 x more? (energy gained by being above atmosphere x2, energy gained by having more hours x 4, energy gained by avoiding weather x2 ?)
2. Longer hours. This is a benefit not just because of more energy, but because energy storage is difficult.
I am not convinced that 1. is good enough reason for putting them in space. Are they really that expensive?

One problem is at least for now, a shortage of semiconductor grade silicon. It remains high priced and there is not enough to go around for giant PV projects. There are other types being researched like the one in the original post but for now there is a shortage.

Another aspect: The power generation part, the stuff in space, cannot be ruined by terrorists. They can't get to it.

In Japan, they don't have a lot of real estate like in the US, millions of square miles of not much there. Japan needs to get energy that doesn't take up much land space. I think the microwave antennas take up about as much space as an airport.

Originally posted by sonhouse
One problem is at least for now, a shortage of semiconductor grade silicon. It remains high priced and there is not enough to go around for giant PV projects. There are other types being researched like the one in the original post but for now there is a shortage.

I see solar panels everywhere. Surely they are not that expensive that shipping them up to space would cost less than 20 times the original price?

Another aspect: The power generation part, the stuff in space, cannot be ruined by terrorists. They can't get to it.
They don't need to, they can still target the microwave antennas which are presumably easier to target being all in one place and smaller. A ground based system could be distributed all over the country.

In Japan, they don't have a lot of real estate like in the US, millions of square miles of not much there. Japan needs to get energy that doesn't take up much land space. I think the microwave antennas take up about as much space as an airport.
That makes sense. Though I still think getting every roof covered might be a better first step.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I see solar panels everywhere. Surely they are not that expensive that shipping them up to space would cost less than 20 times the original price?

[b]Another aspect: The power generation part, the stuff in space, cannot be ruined by terrorists. They can't get to it.
They don't need to, they can still target the microwave antennas which are presuma t makes sense. Though I still think getting every roof covered might be a better first step.[/b]

I think they pretty much are covered with cells now. The microwave antennas can be rebuilt a lot cheaper than the PV cells, they are basically just wires on a circuit board, done a couple of thousand times.

I think the cost of space based power is prohibitive right now. I think the Japanese will figure that part out when push comes to shove and they find the cost to be 1 trillion dollars or so.