This is another clever, yet somewhat impractical, means to tap into high levels of accessible power in hard-to-reach places.
It is proposed that orbiting satellites equipped with solar panels, can feed steady power into the grid with no interruptions. Given the constant exposure to unimpeded sunlight in high earth-orbit, it is easy to see why this is an attractive option.
The electricity produced by the satellites will “beam” the power back to a receiver on earth using a microwave beam (which actually sounds a bit scary). If anything were to cross paths with this high-energy beam it could be bad news. What if there’s some malfunction and the “off switch” isn’t working? You would get a runaway microwave beam. So clearly, you need some fail-safes built in.
I can see this working for niche military applications where budget is not of great concern, and the most important criterion is to have secure reliable power on-hand. This is why military installations tend to rely mostly on solar panels (as a source of renewable energy) given that they produce power as long as there is daylight, which has a greater natural reliability than even the best wind sites (as long as you don’t mind paying a little bit extra).
Not surprising, the Pentagon is taking an interest in satellite solar power. Some are calling it the next space race.
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