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Space-Based Solar Power
Space-based solar energy collection takes advantage of the higher density (intensity) of solar
radiation above the influence of the Earth's atmosphere (approximately a factor of 8) if we
consider that a fixed point on the Earth's surface has night, clouds, and atmospheric particles
to reduce its daily total. If a sufficient amount of power could be captured in space, it
would be beamed to Earth by microwave transmission. Collector size would be less than for
Earth-based systems, although costs for launch and assemble of such systems must be factored in
(Hoffert et al, 2002)