Palau May Get Satellite Power In the Next Decade

davidwr writes "The island nation of Palau is looking into creating a satellite-to-ground power transmission system. The system would use low-orbit satellites to transmit power to a receiver in bursts, unlike some other plans which rely on geostationary satellites. The initial 1-megawatt project is supposed to go online 'as early as' 2012 for a cost of $0.8 billion. Time will tell if this can be made cost-effective compared to traditional solar or other sources of power."

Comments

urban re-design and development

[User 956]

The island nation of Palau is looking into creating a satellite-to-ground power transmission system.

I'm sure the US Army already has such a thing, although they probably plan on using it to make glass parking lots.

SimCity

[Conspiracy_Of_Doves]

Anyone else just flash on an image of a beam from space getting misaligned with the receiver and vaporizing sections of your city?

Something about water and melanin

[C10H14N2]

Brown people surrounded by large bodies of water are better equipped to deal with being bombarded by intense solar radiation than white people surrounded by large buildings.

Re:Something about water and melanin

[Tablizer]

[Why do it first on an island?] Brown people surrounded by large bodies of water are better equipped to deal with being bombarded by intense solar radiation than white people surrounded by large buildings.

If I was modding this, I would be dumbfounded to find an appropriate mod tag. It makes you think, but just smells sooooo wrong.

Re:Something about water and melanin

[mikiN]

Microwaves are colour blind, you (sk)insensitive clod!

Re:What kind of boondoggle is this?

[Tablizer]

They're paying $800 per watt, when a company is now shipping solar panels that cost under $1/watt

Uh.....unions?

Re:What kind of boondoggle is this?

[Tablizer]

It's for my science project!

I can find you a better way to kill an ant than a giant space laser.

This is what happens when

[Tablizer]

...the natives believe their spam.

There are side benefits

[edwardpickman]

All the cooked birds you can eat.

Same sized receiver?

[Tablizer]

Article: One NASA study visualized solar-panel arrays 3 by 6 miles in size, transmitting power to similarly sized rectennas on Earth.

1. That could glow pretty bright in the night sky. Environmentalists may complain.

2. So much for real-estate savings.

3. How the hell did the name "rectenna" get past the marketing department? Must be from the Uranus Ad Agency.

Beat the waves

[complex(179,-70)]

I can already see a great TV reality show. "Beat the Waves", where contestants have 90 minutes to cross the island, preferably while trying to slow down the others in any way possible. Beer and chips ready, GO.

Simplified description

[DerekLyons]

There isn't space in a Slashdot comment box to describe the many things wrong with this proposal, so I'll sum up:
 
If the new snake oil powered launchers come online on schedule, and the unobtanium mines in Siberia don't have a another bad winter - this proposal has abour .01% of a chance in hell of meeting the costs and schedules laid out in the article. (Though I suspect the high worldwide demand for handwavium integrated circuits, needed for aiming the satellite's antenna, may be the bottleneck in the end.)