This literally high tech approach is expensive and potentially politically dangerous. There is plenty of solar energy available for lower cost capture on the ground – is it reasonable to burn a lot of fossil fuels to get solar collectors into orbit so that we can beam additional energy down into an already overheated terrestrial system? Might this accelerate the development of space based military technology?

‘Space-based solar power is back in vogue these days, three decades after the U.S. government started toying with the idea as a way to get steady—if not cheap—power to remote battlefield locations. California utility PG&E just signed a deal with Solaren, another space-solar firm, to provide 200 megawatts of space-based solar power in 2016.’

via Spaced Out: Is Solar Power From Satellites Achievable? – Environmental Capital – WSJ.