<![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams - Gizmodo Comments]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams - Gizmodo Comments]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Sy.Labthavikul: Sy, it's your sister. I hope I'm not embarrassing you. I hope to think of something remarkably scientific to say, perhaps by tomorrow. Ummm, let's just hope this project is not a front created to destroy us by solar radiation/laser beam or inadvertant ozone depletion. This is my first post, so please be lenient, thanks!

thavikul

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Gads! What a bunch of babble! And the comment that the power level at the receiving antenna will be less than the output of a cell phone!!! Then lets power 50K homes with a cell phone!!! Wise up people, this thing is highly dangerous to anyone or anything in the vicinity!!! Even if it is a maser or laser, the total power in the beam will fry anything it touches. Look at the substation that provides power to a small community, it is behind a large fence to keep people from frying themselves by touching the exposed conductors! Remember, power is power, the medium, electricity, microwaves , infrared, does NOT matter. Any device designed and built by humans is prone to failure. Look at our wonderful aviation industry, they strive for zero defect workmanship, and aircraft still fall from the sky. A grain of sand traveling at the extreme speeds of space will hit a critical component sooner or later, as there are so many of those grains of sand. Thank God it is only an idea that can't be implemented or it would be really scary!
Far better for the Japanese to harness the power of a giant thermal nuclear reaction and beam the power over the the surface of the earth.. Oh wait, never mind... Sharks with friken lasers on their heads...

crashyoung

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Wasnt that the plot form 007 die another day?

tkohrs2002

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Turbo Driver: That was a good story and a good book.

Ben Zvan

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> The story is from 1950, btw...

-W

Turbo Driver

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> GIZ readers / commenters need to get themselves an educayshun- this idea and its effects/ramifications were first detailed by Isaac Asimov decades ago, in one of his short stories in ''I, Robot.'' In the story 'Reason' they use just such a beam to provide power to Earth.

Read it... and wonder IF...

-Wolf

Turbo Driver

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @HoboZero & @ripfire4: If the satellite is orbiting anywhere other than between the Earth and the Sun then yes, you are adding to the net energy level of the planet.

I would assume you would have a geostationary orbit for these for the sake of making the transmission consistent, so there would be a few hours of extra sunlight to these things every day. Greener, but still bad. Just put the frickin' solar panels on the ground, skip the loss from solar/laser/electric energy state changes and get yourself more efficiency and less pollution in the process.

Ben Zvan

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Do you guys at Gizmodo ever find that being uninformed idiots interferes with your work? Doesn't look like it.

Okay (1) not a new idea, it's been around since the 70's (2) it's not a laser (visible light) it's a maser, radio waves, and it doesn't much care about clouds etc, (3) the energy conversion is fairly efficient and has the advantage it never has to be converted to kinetic energy, but in any case (4) who cares about the conversion efficiency? What we care about is cost per kWh; unlike fossil fuels or reactors of any stripe, we don't have any need to deal with side effects of the losses and (5) if you're the sort of dolt who worries about EMF from power towers then you'll probably worry about this, but the µwave flux under the antenna is less than what's coming from that cell phone you never take out of your ear anyway.

CharlieInCO

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> What's the loss like from a 62 mile wireless transmission? Surely it would be easier to deal with the few clouds that pass over vegas, what a waste of government funding.

Don't let kent work on the optics, it'll end up cooking a giant jiffy pop.

toyotaboy

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> This will not really harm Tetsuo, but anger him.

MarlboroTestMonkey7

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> This is a great idea until the terrorists figure out how to attach a giant mirror to a helicopter...

Gann

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Didn't Larry Niven have something like this in Ringworld?

Luke

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> First the magnifying glass: if you have ever used one to burn ants you would know that although it gets hot in one spot the area around the hot spot is in the shade. So I don't know where the extra light comes from in the comment above.
Second blocking the sun: really this thing would have to be huge I mean the size of a continent to block out enough light for us to even register it. Remember how things that are far look smaller, this is 22,400 miles. At most during the day this thing would be smaller than a sun spot even if they make it a mile in diameter, which is big.
Third airplanes: if they use microwaves I read that they developed a microwave clocking device. They could put this around the planes so the microwaves pass harmlessly around it.

I actually think this thing would be good for protecting the Atlantic states, park this bad boy in geo-orbit above the Atlantic and sap the hurricanes with it.



rurena

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Wasn't there something like this in the Sim City games, Microwave power station, I think they were called. If the satelites lost tracking with the receiving station it caused much expodings.

bindu

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Ill wait till CNN tells me a jetlines got shotdown by a ray of light...over the sea of japan...jeezus...

smeee

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Whoa, "Bandit," slow it down with the comment button. Definitely the most off topic comment of the day... And I had just put Giuliani out of my mind, too! Grr.

trendspotter

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> For the people complaining about it getting holes punched in it: it would have to be *giant.*

Small debris strikes will gradually degrade it's collection ability, but the overall concept is sound even with "space trash." Not to mention it will be much more efficient without the atmosphere in the way.

Still, solar cells on the roof (suggested above) is a good idea. As are 'green roofs' with plants and gardens. No sense wasting any of it.

RocketScientist

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Kendra: Your absolutely right.

Michai

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Gundam, anyone?

chrstphr

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @bandit, karmaghost : If you look REAL CLOSE you can see the fricking **spaceship** in the sky. The picture is from the movie Independence Day.
[BTW, I'm in love w/Frucci - just saw his (evil) Intel commercial - he is HOT!]

msp

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Death ray from space....Hmmm..sounds like Death Star

CGrant

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Isn't that photo from when the towers fell in NYC?

karmaghost

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Not green. Too much energy to put this into space.
NEWSFLASH! Power 50k homes not with a floating giant reflector that takes 1M dollars to build and can get hit by a meteor or already orbiting space trash, but put solar cells on roofs of 50k homes. Job done in 1 year.
Earth to Japan: Use the KISS principle.

SuperMacGuy

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> sure its a slightly good idea just use magnents i will still try to get a patent it will sole everything cars, power , heat ac even global warming

yt8ibigp

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> I just don't want to hear them say "oops"

ollifl

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> That's a photo from 9/11, isn't it? I'm not personally sensitive about these things, but I think that some people might dislike that choice of image.

bandit

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @ripfire4: You can test all you want in a smaller environment but you'll never truly know what you're dealing with until you have the real deal at your fingertips. Signal reflection/refraction and propogation on a scale such as this would be tough to test accurately.
@citrush2o: Haha, the silver lining, I like your style. We're all good as long as that cremation dust doesn't sprinkle itself down around my house.


hooked-on-tronics

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> I'm curious as to what all that energy will do as it passes through the upper atmosphere. The chemistry that goes on up there is pretty intricate and pretty sensitive - its already substantially perturbed by us just sending airplanes up through there! All these huge energy beams heating up the upper atmosphere could lead to a whole mess of other problems like ozone layer weakening among other stuff.

Sy.Labthavikul

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @citrush2o: "look at the BRIGHT side" ...

Scotland

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @mobilevisual: well the US is already working on this same thing, so he doesn't need it from them

ctfoley

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @hooked-on-tronics: Look at the bright side: No need for chremation. Lol :P

citrush2o

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> weird, my mom had a dream about this several years go. I'm not even joking.

rainfever

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> "My God, what happend!?"
"We not quite sure inspector. By the looks of it, it would seem that he was squeward right through the head with a solar shishkabob stick!"


citrush2o

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> i remember reading about this idea in irobot and chuckling about how insane/stupid it was...

apparently i was the idiot...

jrghoull

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @K7AAY: People are impressed and thankful of your comment but i was just impressed by the "Clue, get a." the rest was a usefull inteligent grown up comment but there should always be a little bit of humour to make it easier to take in. Ironically this comment has neither fact or humour. Furthermore even the recognition of the irony is not funny and so on and so forth. END

Scotland

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Could there possibly be a better Gizmodo topic on which to comment?! I. Think. NOT.

Lasers, solar panels, space, passive reflectors, jelly, the Japanese...

It's got it all!

Nice one, Giz!!

Mfumbi

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Scotland: Actually, Japan was only able to use laser beams once when they tried to finish off Tetsuo. Unfortunately, it only got him by the arm didn't have a chance for a second shot when he retaliated.

ripfire

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @hooked-on-tronics: Why does it have to come from space to test the transmission effects? Couldn't you just simulate it from the ground?

ripfire

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Juggrnott: :) "(NY Times 7-19-2033) Japan used it's laser energy beams to attack the world powers from space but by the time anyone realized they weponized the Solar Energy Death ray it was too late." nice but for the brits it would be 19-7-2033 and the newspaper heading would be something like "dark day in britain" or "japan has bright idea" "or something funny...that is a play on words" etc

Scotland

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @superbad:
Ya, ya you're SUPERbad, I'm MYbad!
Steiner, the Theosophist.
Thanks!




ANoel

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @K7AAY: I am aware of this, a buddy of mine is a pilot in the airforce. Just having a laugh and whatnot. Still, until the satellite can be constructed and tested in a true, real world environment, the effects of the transmission won't be fully known.

hooked-on-tronics

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> File this under "what could possibly go wrong". Actually this is a great idea. Build in some safety features and there is a great potential for green energy. Of course fixing a problem and restoring power if the satellites goes awry would be an expensive and time consuming proposition. This type of system would need terrestrial / conventional backups.

chasqui

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @nutbastard: Heh. Yeah, I know. Worth a shot though :)

@DocGratis: "Miss the earth"? Umm. How big of a collector were you thinking?

ripfire

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Ni Tsu Alien: Doesn't have to be straight from the collector; it could be just from the geo-stationary aggregator as you mentioned.

ripfire

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @ripfire4:
skyhook != feasable using anything other than diamond carbon nano structures, the weight of the cable itself would rip the cable in half.


nutbastard

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> 62,000 mile cable, that is.

Ni Tsu Alien

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @RIPFIRE4: Even a space elevator uses lasers for power: the current along a 62,000 cable would be terrifying if it were to be effective.

[en.wikipedia.org]

Ni Tsu Alien

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> My GDI sky laser is in prime position to take out your Brotherhood of Nod Nuclear Missile Silo. Everyone likes a joke from 1995! Huzzah!

GhostofCharlesBronson

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @ripfire4: Yes, if the magnifying glass captures sunlight that would otherwise miss the earth.

DocGratis

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Instead of beaming power back to earth, why not just drop an "extension cable" from the satellite down to the ground?

ripfire

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @HoboZero: If someone takes a large magnifying glass over earth, does the planet receive more sunlight than it does without the magnifying glass?

ripfire

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @ANoel: That bit on Wilhelm Reich was interesting and new to me, but it was Rudolf Steiner who came up with Waldorf education (and biodynamic agriculture incidentally). Steiner wrote his first book on education in 1907, and he setup the first Waldorf school around 1919, well before Reich started his crackpot work in the 30's.

[en.wikipedia.org]

superbad

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Even better would be to place them so they block some of the sunlight that would be hitting the earth (Ideally arround the poles, but that orbit would be a pain)...

Then in addition they would provide carbon free power AND act as a solar shade at the same time... Nice global warming offset...

DocGratis

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Solar power usually falls well within the "green" side of energy sources, but wouldn't this thing presumably be sending energy to Earth that would otherwise pass us by otherwise, adding to the net heat energy of the planet? What does that do to global warming?

HoboZero

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Alot of work for visible light
How about the guy that developed super-cheap IR solar collectors
U know IR, the stuff that goes through clouds



Vizi

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Razta: wouldn't be so bad, all you can eat roast goose and other fowl. And you could keep some cattle in your backyard and get the occasional surprise steak supper without having to to turn on the BBQ.

I'm surprised Doc Kagan hasn't chipped in with a plug for his book yet?

Fierock

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Darrone: You pick a wavelength for the laser that will be least affected by the atmosphere.

Mio

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Geisrud: If my pocket laser pointer can be powered by a watch battery....

ripfire

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> I've got an idea like this in a book I'm working on. The trick is to have your collectors in very wide orbits, with a single aggregator satellite (or more, if you're impatient) in a geo-stationary orbit. Laser transfers between collectors and aggregators occur at a tangent to the aggregator's orbit, and are therefore always parallel to the Earth's surface. Then you only have a single satellite beaming energy to a single base-station directly below it on the Earth's surface, which enormously simplifies the aiming issue. If you're clever, you also design your collector to aggregator wavelength to be one absorbed or reflected by the Earth's atmosphere, so it would cause no harm in the event of a gross mis-aim.

If you happen to have a space elevator, your collectors can be extraordinarily cheap to build and launch (since they wouldn't have to be robust enough to survive the acceleration stresses of a rocket launch,) and would practically pay for themselves within a few years.

If you were especially ambitious, you could put your collectors in extra-lunar orbits, and use the same system to power lunar-based research facilities. A telescope on the far side of the moon could be enormously beneficial to astronomy.

Ni Tsu Alien

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @Darrone:
"How does this solve the problem of clouds?"
Well, glad you asked.
We, here on earth, must revisit the awesome orgone accumulator technology developed by the scientist Wilhelm Reich: basically a unit to harvest the potent energy given off by orgasm, which when pointed skyward in the cloudbuster device, busts clouds... so the light can shine through.
Sadly, he was a complete luddite and even today in the school system based on his theories, The Waldorf Schools, NO computers, just pen and ink allowed.
Reich was aimprisioned by the US government and died there.
His story is amazing...

[en.wikipedia.org]







ANoel

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> @K7AAY:

Thanks for the intelligent well-researched comment clearing up a poorly written Gizmodo post.

Sihanouk-s-Poodle

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Givin' me all kinds of memories of SimCity 2000, there was a Microwave Power Plant option in there that used this exact concept. And of course, the risk was that it could miss the base station and fry a few zones. Never had that happen though...

FullFlava

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> It's like something out of SeaQuest, but at least they used their lasers to destroy buildings.

innout3x3

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> YAY!

skulldriveshaft

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> "is there a discount if say...we buy more than 1 of your laser thingy???". George Bush.

mobilevisual

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Gives new meaning to vaporware.

The Lab

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> I don't think targeting will be a problem. What do we usually use for targeting?? A fricken laser beam!

Abnormal

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> So when do we hear about the first person or plane getting shot by one of these beams

utube2007

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Clue, get a.

The SPS uses masers (which transmit microwaves), not a laser, as can clearly be seen at the Hokkaido Shimbun site. JAXA and predecessors have tested the basic tech for decades.

Relax, DARRONE: The wavelengths chosen to transmit power beam through clouds, no problem.

RAZTA, chill; passive reflectors on the edge of the receiving antenna will warn the transmitting system if the beam drifts, and decollimate the beam in milliseconds, spreading the beam out to harmlessness.

As far as HOOKED-ON-TRONICS' concern about 'unsuspecting airplanes', well, that's why pilots carry maps that tell them where NOT to fly, but at the power densities planned for the system, it might disturb avionics but won't kill, not even if flying in a fabric-covered sailplane. Your metal dental fillings might get hot, though.

K7AAY

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Not too far from the Deathstar now...If only ATT started funding this

Chromeo

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Sounds kinda like the laser weapon from The bond movie, Die Another Day. And also aren't Japanese's homes stereotypically smaller than here in a America? Either way I'm pretty sure the average home over there uses less power than here, maybe, whatever I'm just saying. And won't this thing block out the sun somewhere, even if only a little bit.

jakeyjohn1

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Interesting idea... I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the receiving end of it. But anything to cut down on coal and oil consumption.
www.dontsaynothing.com.

SicilianSnowman

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> This graphic has to be somehow related to Randy Quaid going nutso recently. Perhaps he is preparing to revise his role as a drunken pilot that saves the world from BIG LASER BEAMS?

jibbly

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Can't help but wonder how much of the energy would be required to convert the solar energy into laser energy.

Geisrud

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> If one of those beams carries enough power for 500,000 homes, what would it do to an unsuspecting airplane? Nothing like having your internal organs melted into jelly at 5000 feet to put a damper on your day.

hooked-on-tronics

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Did we forget the lessons that the evil Largo taught us about space-based weapons?

Pope John Peeps II

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> I can just hear it now:

"Wait, aren't we using metric?"
"No, I mean yeah, I err"
"Oh crap"

RemmingtonShowdown

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> And I wouldn't be suprised that the first time they involuntarily cause a massive EMP pulse or ionize/deionize the atmosphere they come whining and say "we didn't see it coming."

Kendra

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> (NY Times 7-19-2033) Japan used it's laser energy beams to attack the world powers from space by the time anyone realized they weponized the Solar Energy Death ray it was too late.

Juggrnott

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> I remember this from Sim City 2000. It always misfired and destroyed the city.

voltron80

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> Won't be economical until they get space elevators though...

mpjohnst

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> I wouldn't want to live next to the base station just incase its targeting is off by a milimeter.

Razta

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> How does this solve the problem of clouds? I get that it makes some sense, but the light reflected would only be the total amount that hits the space panels, not to mention any panels that get cracked, chipped, smash by debris. I'm figuring it would need to be HUGE to produce that much energy.

Darrone

]]> <![CDATA[Orbiting Solar Panels to Shoot Energy to Earth in the Form of Laser Beams]]> He was shot at a downward angle...

Hvedhrungr

]]>