At risk of being annoying - getting solar panels to space is expensive. Even though you can make them very thin in space, optimistic estimates I've seen are aro

At risk of being annoying - getting solar panels to space is expensive. Even though you can make them very thin in space, optimistic estimates I've seen are around 1kg/kilowatt for just the panels, at some point in the future. (Current designs are closer to 10kg/kw). Once you add in the weight of the electronics & beam, I'm not sure it makes financial sense. Last I've seen, it would cost (roughly) $5k per kilogram that you deliver to space. Local costs for rooftop solar that I've seen are around $3k per kilowatt - and that's after the cost of installation, including power hookups, etc. Once you factor in the efficiency loss from beaming down the power (plus the cost of building the base stations, and the cost of manufacturing these awesome solar panels), I'm not sure that it makes economic sense.