Seems like the price of space-based solar energy only really needs to compare with nuclear before it becomes competitive for large scale use. Certainly an interesting concept.

Orbital solar farms along with space energy storage capacity , comprised of flywheels , could be employed as laser propulsion system to power spacecraft to other planets. The design could also supply power to hard to reach areas on earth.

This documentary here was actually really well done, and excellently researched.

This is a very nicely edited video, hats off to the producers

I remember this from Sim City. Always tried to build one in hopes of actually seeing the corresponding disaster...

Great video on Space based solar power 👍

Fascinating presentation. Are there any issues with atmospheric activity that might change the reliability or vary the intensity of the beam? For instance, the increase in the electromagnetic activity of the daytime atmosphere interferes with AM signals and decreased activity at night allows for a larger radius for AM transmission. (Am reflection happens at greater altitude) Would this increased activity during the day interfere with penetrating radio waves from space in a similar way as it interferes with AM transmission?

sounds great, I'm all for it!!

Nice video looks like a long shot especially if grid connectivity and economics of solar on the ground continue to improve...

*"…so the receiver would be about 6km in diameter."* _"Wow! A 6km radius is pretty big!"_ 🤦‍♂️

the Blue Danube 2001 Space Odyssey~

Where did the animation for this video come from? Did you create them FT? @financialtimes

I agree with elon and that lady said. It doesn't make sence in large scale application so elon is right. But it can be used in small scale operations like military. Another fact: If this works in large scale elon is the guy that can make it most profitable.He have solar in Tesla and Cheapest rockets at SpaceX.

Love it!

this seems good perspective for future Mars settlement. Or for space objects power supply. This is not so big power impact as compare to other perspective energy sources on earth

UK space agency is a strong supporter of this

All I could hear repeating in my mind whilst watching this was "we just wanna charge you for something that should be free, or theres no point doing it"

Dang…I literally had this 30 minutes ago. This video was the second one that showed up as I began research.

in winter we can try

James Webb telescope seems a piece of cake in comparison, but the idea is beautiful

It's only that a power RF generator in space is a huge maintenance free challenge

this is like you use magnified glass to cook ants.

Nice! One consideration: what about debris in space? How "high" should that be to avoid being wasted? Other would be about safety to maintain it (e.g. rocket attacks, cybersecurity), but maybe they are still too far-fetched questions.

i want this.

Egypt's BenBan solar farm is already 6 square kilometers!. You can see it from space.

Unlike Tesla's idea, this still has a buyer and a seller. Tesla would want you to beam it down to the ENTIRE planet, and have anyone on the planet be able to receive the power. Tesla was using much longer waves at Colorado springs. Also, Tesla needed only a receiver, as the cosmos was the transmitter.

How can it produce power 24*7 facing the sun when aims at an receiver on earth at the same time?

Deg of equipment is significant. A "beam of energy" is science fiction.. I'm also a space engineer

If Musk finds it crazy then it can only mean one thing. Its the future and will happen over a period of time and the idea must Be explored and definitely not discarded.

AMAZING 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

this is an interesting concept but if you start to rely on this as your baseload then it seems like it leaves you vulnerable as all an adversary needs to do is destroy your satelite(s) and they take away your power. we need to be thinking in terms of energy security and independence... unless you can somehow defend your space assets againt all threats but with USA and China looking into this, it is going to lead to the militarisation of space. Looking at the Russia Ukraine conflict, Russia is able to target Ukraines power stations and even though they are unwilling to directly attack nuclear power stations (due to fear of political backlash) there would be no such problem with destroying a solar space satellie as it would not cause nuclear consequences. so perhaps its better to just focus on more and more efficient localised and decentralised solar + storage. by the time this space satellite concept can be deployed at any meaningful scale, terrestrial solar + storage will have already become cheaper and more efficient which will make the space solar unnessesary

They haven't answer the basic questions of solar power conversion rates per square meter. The NASA guy didn't contradict Elon Musks claims that there is only double the intensity of the sun in space. We don't know how much of the solar electricity generated will make it to Microwave energy, what the efficiency rate of that is. I heard in a recent video that it is only 66%. Then how much of that beam is going to land on your antenna? Geosynchronous orbit is close to 24,000 miles if I recall correctly, and microwave beams are not a slender line like a laser beam is. That beam will disperse over that distance. Fourthly, how much of that energy that falls on the antenna will be converted to electricity and how much will pass through into the ground. Fifthly, if the power is only one quarter of the sunlight you could get as much power from solar panels with the same land area. We don't need much electricity after midnight, a simple battery could meet our nocturnal needs. This idea is insanely expensive and large. Sixthly, this could be weaponized , concentrated and be used to kill people, destroy airports and cities and maybe military bases. Or it could just miss the antenna and burn the grass a mile away.

Cost effecient?

It is all interesting,but mow small modular nuclear, thorium, molton salt. and continue with fusion R&D is much wiser.

Make Deep #Space Economy !!!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

More #Space Government Bonds !!!!

What is the cost (excluding financing costs) to generate 100% of the world’s energy needs using spaced base solar? $100b? $500b? $1t? Edit: what is the cost to build one unit, enough to power a city with one million homes?

wireless baby its the only way too go

Walter Sobchak ... "Eyebrows, Dude."

Build a solar panel factory on the moon where the launch costs are 1/24th of here on Earth - and you could have an economic rationale for a moon base as well! A moon base fed by the $10 TRILLION energy market.

A = pi*r^2, move the solar panels closer to the sun, halve the distance = 4x the power, move 10x closer = 100x the power, move them 1000x closer to the sun than earth = 1 million times more power (for the same size panels).

2:10 one farm enough for 1million homes... There's approximately 8 billion people in the world. Let's pretend you want this to be the only source of power that provides energy for homes. Let's try and do some rough maths. Let's say 4 people per home that's 2 billion homes. The solar farm provides enough power for 1 million homes. So that would mean you'd need 2000 solar space farms. 2:20 The ground receiver needs to be 6km wide that would be 12000km. That's larger than the circumference of the moon. The amount of land you would need to use wouldn't be practical without taking up farmland or destroying natural habitats. I think overall when combined with other energy sources. It has potential to contribute to the global energy needs. It's a huge project to undertake

Hu. People say my ideas are out there. I typed in ,Collecting solar energy from space and found this. It cant be that far out there now can it?

Nice to see everyone clicking "likes" on each other while lamenting childish daydreams - it takes me back 60 years - to my childhood. In the meantime, I recommend looking out the window at the real world at least once a day!

Are there not any concerns about malfunctioning, damage and what would be done to fill the gap if that happens? It’s an interesting idea but I’m surprised that wasn’t even addressed.

If if if it works

Space solar Yes but if build from recurses acquired in Space /Moon, Build Automating Mines and factories on Moon and launch Ready Power satellites to Earth Orbit via magnetic catapult.

it doesn't exist? then why has PG&E signed a purchase agreement with Solaren to do just that?

Please explain why when asked about the powerloss issue, they didnt elaborate only explained that "Musk is wrong". Thats fine if he is wrong, but why not answer the question? Based on _current_ microwave technology, the losses are at least half of the captured energy in space. Conversion and atmosphere is a _real_ problem, especially in space, since conversion needs heat management which is not easy to do. The other "undiscussed" problem all the time, is the impact on the upper atmosphere it has (ionosphere is impacted by microwave radiation) and the problem of atmospheric dispersion means a large portion of the energy is _actually_ going into heating up the atmosphere? Thats insane by itself. Where are the "scientists" simply explaining how these key problems are going to be addressed?

WTP is extremely inefficient over distance and dangerous in many ways than its feasibility.

What could go wrong with a high energy microwave beam pointed at earth? lol

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Well, most of the inventions we use in civilian society, came from military research.

I just want to know of it will be cheaper or else forget it.

Its impossible because you cannot transmit the power back to earth, esp. While it's spinning at 1000 mph. Also the losses thru the atmosphere of energy would destroy its viability.

why would this be better than simple solar panels

SimCity 2000 did this.

It makes sense for the space-based solar station to also provide EYES on the sun like NASA-ESA Solar & Heliospheric Observatory mission -- SOHO.

Oops zapped a city

Economics shouldn't be as important as survival, and that's literally what's going to be at stake if we don't start working together to save the planet. there is not one solution. we basically have to use all means available to us to generate power which will in turn help us survive whilst maintaining our living standards.

We can also use it too keep the world in peace.

ONLY THING - Its gonna cost ya

Sun is only energy part not a gravity

RIP flying Birbs.. 🐦🐦🐦

Planet has a how gravity

You expect us to microwave our planet?

Wouldn't it burn the atmosphere

Reason is not capability of we can't do but the reason is political and trust because every country will think they can use as weapon. Engineering is not issue but political . Politicians are not mature enough to harness this engineering Marvel they only think how we can use as weapon.

lost in transmision ?

What are the cons of this? Light pollution during night time?

So, we need a BILLION of these in space to supply 1/100,000th of our need?

it sounded like a focused documentary. but then went on to popular subject matters.

looks like the receivers would be the footprint size of Lahaina...

Идея и планы построить космические солнечные электростанции и доставлять из Космоса энергию на Землю для обеспечения ими потребностей в масштабах континентов не представляются продуманными с общеметодологической ( ф и л о с о ф с к о й ) точки зрения. На протяжении 2-х миллиардов лет Природа при помощи фотосинтеза аккумулировала энергию Солнца, поступающую на Землю, и к о н с е р в и р о в а л а её в остатках растений, тем самым снижая окружающую температуру на Земле. Врезалось в память когда-то прочитанное, что если бы не поглощение растениями поступающей энергии Солнца, то на пустынной Земле установилась бы температура значительно выше 100 градусов. В обобщенном приближении можно считать, что в течение последних 200 лет разбросанные по континентам Земли тепловые электростанции (на угле, нефти, газе и другом топливе) обеспечивали энергетические потребности человечества, сжигая при этом законсервированные Природой энергетические ресурсы Солнца, поступавшие на Землю в течение 2-х миллиардов лет. Сжигание сопровождалось 1) выделением тепла; 2) вредными химическими выбросами. А потребляемая электроэнергия в конечном итоге практически преобразовывалась в тепло. Вот и получилось, что дополнительно к текущей солнечной, поступающей на Землю, энергия от работы электростанций способствовала медленному сдвигу теплового баланса (и, соответственно, температуры) на Земле. Расплата вылилась в ныне сплошной поток природных катаклизмов. В общем случае, заложенное в упомянутую идею д о п о л н и т е л ь н о е до существующего природного поступление энергии на Землю из Космоса , в конечном итоге (даже без вредных химических выбросов!) будет приводить к дальнейшему повышению установившейся температуры на Земле. А не к решению проблемы глобального потепления... Другое дело, если осваивать и массово использовать для земных потребностей аккумуляцию и консервацию солнечной энергии, природным путем поступающей с е й ч а с на Землю. [26.03.2024]

Will require acres of solar cells. Chances are damage from space junk over that area would be a common occurrence. I'm no expert, but, that's how it looks to me. B well all. 🙂

Solar is the only future power source.

FT, it must be some good stuff you're smoking!

If EVs could be charge this way anywhere on earth, then you can drive without stopping

who come here after watching druv rathee video

Elon musks doesn't like it cause he won't profit off it.

It’s funny for musk to call something crazy. This from a guy that thinks he can colonize mars (a planet with no breathable air, cold frozen geography, 300 mph planetary wind sand storms) with a million people. To terraform mars would take at the quickest centuries, but most likely millenniums. I think the ability to develop a solar energy system orbiting earth is more feasible

🙏❤️🙏🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Perhaps you might like to employ a few genuine professional engineers working in the real world. Your journalism might improve somewhat (a lot actually).

Stop quoting that billionaire crazy man.

wonder how many birds will this concept, kill. This thing can also be converted into a super weapon.

It's good if we have something for future but antagonism of capitalism cannot be solved and is most dangerous to existence as its conflict with majority as Engels rightly said "abolition of anti thesis between town and village is utopia just like abolition of anti thesis between capitalist and wage workers"

This is a joke, for so much infastructure for so little power in the 100's KW that's nothing to power a thousand homes? Are you kidding, are you an engineer or a dreamer? Nuclear salt reactors and the new fusion coming soon is the answer. This is a lot of rockets and fuel and expense for such a small ROI.

I assure China is already building one, can't wait what US and EU will say after they build it up and start to take benefits from it while they will only stair at it and dram how beatifull would be to have their own.

Nuclear is the way.

🍗

everyone is drunk in this video

Is there a way of safely harvesting the cooked birds and insects from around the receiver site? 🍗

Just to make a VERY fundamental point here... The Sun is space based and it sends us solar energy 24/7 to 50% of the world at any one time. A solar farm 200miles square could supply the United States with an excess of solar generated electricity, thus that it could even export the stuff it would be so awash with power. When you look how small a plot of land that is by comparison to the land mass, and the profligacy of American power usage, sticking stuff in space to do what can be achieved far more cheaply and easily on planet Earth makes zero sense. This is just more fluff and nonsense generated by those who want to slow the transition to green electrical power by making it seem like rocket science. Continuing with America as an example, that benighted nation has only just got its first wind farm at sea under way... just one. So wind power still has a huge way to go along with ground based solar generation. There is now a burgeoning industry in supplying and fitting giant battery farms around the world, using very inexpensive and reliable (but heavy) battery technology, which can keep the power flowing during those occasions when none is being generated (like at night). All this is available right now. It is being made and used ,right now. It is cheaper than using coal and oil,, right now. It takes about two years to payback the investment, right now. This technology was being discussed when I was a boy, over 50 years ago. It's so out of date it's pathetic, hearing this drivel from a news source that ought to know better for pities sake!

That is not true sun is big star

Seems like a good way to microwave the planet. 🤨

solve global warming by microwaving the earth? you must be joking

When someone teases and embellishes their eyebrows - beware!

Why not put nuclear reactors on the moon and beam the power down to Earth?

Spaced based solar power is an IQ test. Did you pass or fail?

"zero carbon future" has to be the dumbest idea of all time.