Northern California's First Zero Energy Commercial Real Estate Comp

Another example of SSPS being 30 years too late at this point (vs.
building them in the 1970s when first proposed):

http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsNAPR360.htm

"Sharp Electronics Corporation, the U.S. sales and marketing subsidiary
of Sharp Corporation, today announced a new 200 kilowatt Sharp
photovoltaic system installation at a 50,000 sq. foot, multi-tenant
office building in Santa Rosa, California. The building represents
Northern California's first "Zero Energy" commercial real estate
complex. A Zero Energy property combines state-of-the-art,
energy-efficient construction with renewable energy systems such as
solar, resulting in "net zero" energy consumption from the utility
provider. Evaluated and designed by NorthBay Energy Services, Inc. and
Atlas Pellizzari Electric, the Santa Rosa commercial solar installation
features 1276, 185 Watt mono-crystalline solar panels on the roof of
Pine Creek Properties located on Airway Drive. The one-story building
houses a school, county administrative offices and a church. Atlas
Pellizzari Electric, Inc. of Redwood City, CA was a contractor of record
and installed the new Sharp solar electric system, which will provide 98
percent of the building's power.

...

The project was made possible by an incentive offered by Pacific Gas &
Electric, which enabled Pine Creek Properties to offset the initial cost
of the solar system installation. Receiving a 50 percent rebate on the
total cost of the system, Pine Creek Properties estimates it will be
able to recover its investment in less than five years."

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Addmitedly, it's 50% subsidized. And it's still grid dependent (and
Tangoman previously rightly pointed out scaling issues with the current
grid if everyone did this). But it's a sign of things to come... And if
this stuff is happening now -- not just prototypes but actual commercial
complexes, then I would think that long before SSPS can come on line
decades from now, improved incremental innovations leading to Earth
based gridless solar systems (including pollution free manufacturing
processes) will dominate the energy market SSPS (as a space based solar
system) hoped to reach.

An example of the type of future breakthroughs already looking promising:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/18/1082140125998.html
"Origin Energy pushed the envelope on its generating strategy when it
pledged to spend $20 million on a solar energy manufacturing plant late
last year. The plant, to be built in South Australia, and scheduled to
be in production by late next year, will be a ground breaker, relying on
unique Australian technology developed at the Australian National
University. The technology uses 90 per cent less silicon than
conventional photovoltaic cells. That means there is potential in the
long term for cell prices to fall dramatically."

So, IMHO the SSI community really needs to move to new approaches to
fostering space settlement than assuming SSPS will fund the development
of space habitats... [For example, with development work done by
charitable foundations, government R&D, and free hobbyist activities,
aimed at creating a self-replicating space habitat seed requiring only a
single launch to an asteroid or the moon].

--Paul Fernhout