On the PBS show "Nova" tonight...

1. On the surface of Earth at the equator it is 1,020 W/m, Away from
the equator you get less. If you are in winter you will also get less.
Don't forget to account for cloudy days.

2. You don't need to use solar cells. Solar Thermal (eg Stirling or
Brayton cycle engine) with light weight mirrors is another option.

4. Careful selection of frequency minimizes losses.

5. It is called a rectenna http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectenna as you
will note in the article it can be 90% efficient.

On earth you typically get 5 peak hours of sunlight a day to generate
electricity in. You can boost that a bit by tracking the sun, not by
much though.

May I suggest you get a hold of "The High Frontier"by Gerard K O'Neil
and start reading. Heck even a short search of Wikipedia would be useful.

B

bobunf wrote: