interesting idea but is it a accomplishable

[space noob]

http://sciencenetlinks.com/science-news/science-updates/solar-power-from-moon/

 

The science behind it shows it can be done and meet global demands, but could it be done?

 

The moon is smaller than earth so it's not like putting panels around the equator but it's still a huge surface to cover, there would be countless trips to space, huge wastes of money and decades of planning

Putting panels around the equator could be a simpler task

 

There is water frozen under the moons surface which it is believed could be used to launch space crafts from the moon using hydrogen, it still takes a lot of fuel to get there in the first place though, even so by the time this could be done the population may even double and everyone may have electric cars, the global electrical usage may exceed that of the moons supply, then of course there's the man power Anne working in space to consider,

 

What are your thoughts?

[Bill Angel]

It's an interesting idea, but I would think that a satellite between the sun and the earth would collect more energy that would be sent to earth via microwaves than would collection stations that were located on the moon. A stationary lunar collection station would not receive as much sunlight, because it would periodically fall within the shadow of the earth on the moon, as the moon completes its orbit around the earth.

[space noob]

I see what you mean there are easier ways but we couldn't make a satellite large enough and then send it out into space, the moons equator allows more light to be absorbed and enough to meet demand

[Realitycheck]

Too much waste. First you've got to install all of these panels in a hostile environment which triples your cost, making it a total waste of time tostart with, not mention needing some way to transfer all of this energy two hundred and forty thousand miles which again makes it totally innefficient when you could erect them into a transparent Dyson sphere around the earth, as long as we're talking about this kind of scale. Then we could probably incorporate a way to control the weather and eliminate extreme weather.

[Bill Angel]

... you could erect them into a transparent Dyson sphere around the earth, as long as we're talking about this kind of scale. Then we could probably incorporate a way to control the weather and eliminate extreme weather.

Eliminating extreme weather is a valid objective. A recent hurricane in Haiti claimed a lot of lives. But I would think that a Dyson sphere around the earth that could control the weather could exacerbate the climate change problems that are associated with global warming.

[space noob]

not mention needing some way to transfer all of this energy two hundred and forty thousand miles

 

microwaves is what is planned to be used

[Airbrush]

Eliminating extreme weather is a valid objective. A recent hurricane in Haiti claimed a lot of lives. But I would think that a Dyson sphere around the earth that could control the weather could exacerbate the climate change problems that are associated with global warming.

 

There was an idea to combat global warming by sending millions of reflectors out into space to partially block the sunlight from Earth. Maybe those screens can serve 2 purposes, (1) block sun rays and cool the Earth, and (2) solar cells gather energy for Earth. A Dyson sphere totally encapsulates the Earth. That is going too far, just block enough sunlight to cool the Earth.

Edited May 16, 2012 by Airbrush