The objective of the study (1) is to comparatively assess the economic viability, energy investment, risk and reliability issues of broad-scale introduction of terrestrial and space based solar power systems for a European power supply in 2030 at various scenario power levels. The scenario design in terms of base load and non-base load cases is only suited to gain principle knowledge about both terrestrial and space-based solar power system architectures. The comparative cost, energy, risk and reliability discussions and evaluations are based on highly asymmetrical input data due to different magnitudes of practical experiences. However, under the study assumptions given, space-based solar power systems may potentially provide a firm power supply and could be economically competitive to terrestrial solar power systems if space transportation costs in the lower hundreds EUR/kg payload are achieved. The energy payback time could be in the range of other solar power technologies far below their operational lifetimes. Risks attributed with SPS are mainly in the field of health and public acceptance of microwave power transmission, the general R&D risk and geopolitical implications.


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