All fun and games until a piece of space junk knocks into the satellite and you accidentally cut through the Dutch sea wall.

There would absolutely have to be safety measures on this to avoid that exact scenario from occurring. I cannot remember the author of the book right offhand, but there's a book called PowerSat that goes through something very similar to this. As long as the beam is diffuse and not incredibly focused, it should be fine if something flies through it like a bird or if the beam gets knocked off course, it wouldn't damage infrastructure. There would also need to be good auto cut off functionality built into the thing so that if it realized it was off target, maybe by like a focusing laser or something, it would automatically shut itself down.

that's some easier said than done statement there

I think this was one of the possible disasters that could happen in Sim City 2000

Fusion would be much more practical than beaming back power from space. I think the chance of seeing either of those by 2050 is about 0%.

NIMBYies in panic mode.

Wouldn't that bring more solar energy to earth and contribute to energy imbalance?

This energy would then be transmitted to one or more stations on Earth.

And how do you suppose to do that?

Beam the power from space like they do in Mirai Shounen Conan? Or space shuttles with batteries? Or a giant cable that somehow doesn't break?

It's not possible.

The article is actually discussing a feasibility study for the far future (25 years from now as per the article):

For the first time, researchers from King’s College London have assessed the possible impact that generating solar energy in space could have for Europe. They found it could cut energy battery storage needs by more than two-thirds.

The study, published in Joule, analysed the potential of a design by NASA for solar generation, which is planned to be in use by 2050. The findings show the design could also save money by reducing the cost of the whole power system in Europe by up to 15%, including energy generation, storage and network infrastructure costs – an estimated saving of 35.9 billion euros per year.

Space-based solar power generation involves in-space continuous collection of solar energy. This involves placing large solar panels on satellites in orbit, where they are exposed to much more sunlight and can continuously collect energy without being affected by clouds or the day-night cycle. This energy would then be transmitted to one or more stations on Earth. It is then converted to electricity and delivered to the energy grid or batteries for storage.

It's a cool idea and I'd imagine we'd need an array spanning the globe rather than just over one continent

Here’s the paper from NASA that this is based on.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20230017756/downloads/ASCEND SBSP Final 05162024.pdf

Feasible? Only time will tell. Possible? Caltech did it two years ago. Look up MAPLE. Wireless energy transfer to/from space was achieved.

Naw, you just beam it back to earth as a laser. That way you could highjack the signal and fill a house with popcorn kernals a
to start a huge neighborhood block party.

The solar panel is easy, it's the cable run that's a real bitch

RD1 generates power 99% of the year and collects solar radiation by autonomously redirecting its reflectors toward a concentrator to focus sunlight throughout each day. RD2 uses flat panels, with solar cells facing away from Earth and microwave emitters facing toward the Earth. RD2 generates power 60% of the year due to its limited capability to reposition itself or redirect solar radiation toward its solar cells.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20230017756/downloads/ASCEND SBSP Final 05162024.pdf

(25 years from now as per the article)

Anything 20 years or more away is a pipe dream that isn't likely to happen anywhere close to speculation.

That, and wiping off the caked dust.

It would probably be done with lasers. Its not perfect tech rn but it is possible. If not the most efficient for its price

At what scale? Milliwatts? Watts? On cloudy days?

This seems very much to fall into the "technically" possible, but impossible to scale realm.

Yeah, sending it wirelessly would have massive loss, probably around 90%+

In short. Presumably the idea would be to 1. only beam down what is needed, and 2. have it replace fossil fuels, which are very much responsible for the change in the planet's energy imbalance.

It would also reduce the energy cost of less efficient 'on Earth' solar arrays, which have problems like intermittency that orbital solar panels wouldn't have.

IF this is anywhere near technically feasible it seems like exploring the idea publicly like this isn't a bad thing.

BUT, after a couple decades of watching proposed miracle tech going nowhere, I can say that ultimately hopium really isn't healthy: we needed to get real a decade or two (or three or four) ago. Relying on non-functioning future tech like carbon capture/storage (or this, if it isn't actually feasible) is nothing more than justification for not making necessary changes now.