> Solar harvesting in space sounds really cool, but how do you get that power back to earth? This has been investigated several times and the most promising te

> Solar harvesting in space sounds really cool, but how do you get that power back to earth? This has been investigated several times and the most promising technique involves using maser downlinks to transfer the energy. > He's said very clearly that you could just have a giant square of solar panels in the desert and it would power the whole country. Ok that's a start. That takes care of the energy needs of 3.5% of the Earth's population, once they have sufficient storage capacity to see them through the night. Geostationary space-based solar collection can work 24 hours per day, with much higher efficiency and minimal storage requirements, right over the areas of peak demand even when the ground is obscured by rain and cloud. No deserts required.