[ExI] StratoSolar

[Ben Zaiboc]

StratoSolar (Stratospheric (20km) tethered photovoltaic aerostats with 
built-in kinetic energy storage)

http://www.stratosolar.com/

This is something that I would have expected some people on this list to 
know about, and have an opinion on, but I don't see any posts about it 
for at least the last three years.

Not sure if the project has stalled for some reason, but does anyone 
know anything about it? It seems an excellent idea to me, but there's no 
recent blog activity or news on their site. Last blog entry was 
2023/12/16. No hint of even a trial, which surprises me.

It seems to be a lot cheaper and more efficient than space-based solar 
power, would work well at any latitude and all day long, being above the 
clouds, and is easily scaleable. The biggest challenge, I think, would 
be the tethers, but 20km of vertical cable is not a problem for current 
technology. The kinetic storage is a brilliant idea, I thought, and 
neatly solves one of the biggest problems that all solar power systems have.

Please have a look at the site, and let us know what your thoughts are. 
Is there some fundamental problem that they missed? I can't think of 
any, except possibly failing to get financial backing, or political 
opposition.

Obviously this idea won't wash in the US, at least for the next four 
years, but why hasn't it already gained some traction?

-- 
Ben
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