Mitsubishi is developing plans for a 1 Gigawatt solar energy farm that would make enough energy for 294000 average Tokyo homes. They are putting 25 billion dollar project. The station will be 36000 kilometers above the surface and it would be four square kilometers of solar panels. They will be testing the technology used to transmit the energy back to Earth before they invest the time and effort for the solar farm.
The technology is cool, but I am a little bit skeptical as to whether or not it will be successful. How would space junk affect this project? This project could be a money pit if they have to keep making repairs. Also, the words “beam energy” are used in the article. I know that this project is set for 2015, but that sounds a bit too much like science fiction for me.
This article is a perfect example of how much money is being spent on making the Earth a better place and it brings up a good argument: At what point do the finances used to preserve the planet become cost inefficient? Is the cost benefit of using the solar energy for the citizens of Tokyo worth the investment of 15 billion dollars? Are there more important things that we could do with that money?
http://www.greendiary.com/entry/mitsubishi-electric-corp-to-install-1-gigawatt-solar-farm-in-space/
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