Solar power from satellites

Abstract

Various alternative energy sources have been proposed in the last few years, many of them figuring in the pages of PHYSICS TODAY. The recognition that no one of these energy sources will, by itself, meet all future power needs, together with the large uncertainties inherent in the achievement of full potential for each of them, has led to what might appear the most daring proposal so far: large-scale solar-energy conversion in space with a satellite solar-power station located in synchronous orbit around Earth—that is, at an altitude of 22 300 miles above the surface.