Electricity from Space Orbit

The U.S. National Security Space Office just released a report discussing the feasibility of beaming solar-generated electricity from space via lasers or microwaves to earth and recommending a test project.

While expensive and risky, the U.S. needs to test various solar generation technologies since we may make unexpected discoveries along the way that lead to totally new products and services. Besides electricity, would a solar satellite be useful for ultra broadband communications replacing current cellular networks? Until we experiment, it's hard to know. That's why space technologies are valuable; they open our minds to totally new ways to doing things.

http://www.solar-power-electrics.com/solar-power-electricity/electricity-from-orbit-the-case-for-r-d