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I'm not speaking of power in space, but power produced in space. It can be transmitted to Earth. Also, you speak about vertical solar panels, do you know that

I'm not speaking of power in space, but power produced in space. It can be transmitted to Earth. Also, you speak about vertical solar panels, do you know that then you get a worse efficiency than with slightly reclined panels, which would neither accumulate much dust, especially if they can also occasionally rotate on their supporting pole? As for aneutronic fusion, it is still much more limited than space solar, because it relies on supplies of boron. Of course not on a short time scale, but my allusion to the Dyson Sphere was a long term speculation, not a short term one.

ncmncm 4y ago
> power in space, but power produced in space ... transmitted to Earth ... will not happen. Efficiency decreases in importance as panel cost continues on down the steep exponential learning curve. Other considerations become increasingly important, such as mounting cost. Fenceposts are cheap. Boron is very plentiful, and not much would anyway be needed. By the time we need more we will be equipped to make it or use something else. In the long term, being found to still depend on solar irradiation for power would be distinctly embarrassing. In any case, all the action will be out in the Kuiper Belt where the truly irreducibly valuable commodities cold and room are abundant, and solar irradiance is hardly noticeable.
- henearkr 4y ago
  > Fenceposts are cheap. It's a problem of available space (or rather, area). When you run out of space on Earth (you filled all the deserts, or all the space that would not deprive natural species of their habitat and photosynthesis), and I predict that it will happen (as there potentially no limit to our energy consumption), you need to go to outer space (first in Earth orbit, then later (to avoid to completely shade off the planet) in Solar orbit). As for energy transmission, I can think of some ways to make it happen, for example use a high-altitude balloon as a receiver, tethered with a cable to transmit down the current. That could answer your worries of transmission efficiency through the atmosphere (in space's void though, no problem). Worth investigating.
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    We won't run out of room on the ground. Population will level off, and concentrate in cities. There will be no value in transmitting microwaves from space, because we get plenty of light already. Eventually, aneutronic fusion will provide more convenient concentrated power. In the meantime, solar coexists nicely with farm crops and reservoirs, and we have many, many, many times as much of that as we would need to put solar onto, so it will only be on the best places for it, sharing with crops that get better yield by it. When the population in space is large, they will almost all be descended from other people already there. Very few will have moved out there.

ncmncm 4y ago

> power in space, but power produced in space ... transmitted to Earth ... will not happen. Efficiency decreases in importance as panel cost continues on down the steep exponential learning curve. Other considerations become increasingly important, such as mounting cost. Fenceposts are cheap. Boron is very plentiful, and not much would anyway be needed. By the time we need more we will be equipped to make it or use something else. In the long term, being found to still depend on solar irradiation for power would be distinctly embarrassing. In any case, all the action will be out in the Kuiper Belt where the truly irreducibly valuable commodities cold and room are abundant, and solar irradiance is hardly noticeable.

henearkr 4y ago
> Fenceposts are cheap. It's a problem of available space (or rather, area). When you run out of space on Earth (you filled all the deserts, or all the space that would not deprive natural species of their habitat and photosynthesis), and I predict that it will happen (as there potentially no limit to our energy consumption), you need to go to outer space (first in Earth orbit, then later (to avoid to completely shade off the planet) in Solar orbit). As for energy transmission, I can think of some ways to make it happen, for example use a high-altitude balloon as a receiver, tethered with a cable to transmit down the current. That could answer your worries of transmission efficiency through the atmosphere (in space's void though, no problem). Worth investigating.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  We won't run out of room on the ground. Population will level off, and concentrate in cities. There will be no value in transmitting microwaves from space, because we get plenty of light already. Eventually, aneutronic fusion will provide more convenient concentrated power. In the meantime, solar coexists nicely with farm crops and reservoirs, and we have many, many, many times as much of that as we would need to put solar onto, so it will only be on the best places for it, sharing with crops that get better yield by it. When the population in space is large, they will almost all be descended from other people already there. Very few will have moved out there.