October 1997
Beam It Down
The sky will soon fill with low-orbiting satellites providing communications links to every point on earth. We should press these fleets into double duty as solar energy collectors that relay uninterrupted beams of nonpolluting electrical power to earth.
By Martin I. Hoffert and Seth D. Potter
In outer space, the sun always shines brightly. No clouds block the solar rays, and there is no nighttime. Solar collectors mounted on an orbiting satellite would thus generate power 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. If this power could be relayed to earth, then the world's energy problems might be solved forever.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology