Note: This report was co-authored by John Furber. The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment invited the Institute for Local Self-Reliance to evaluate the comparative economics of rooftop solar arrays and the solar-powered satellites (SPS) proposed by NASA that would beam power generated in space back to earth. The report concluded, “If decentralized applications achieve the same array efficiency as those projected for SPS arrays, and if buildings are designed to maximize photovoltaic potential, the residential sector can meet all its energy demands from rooftop arrays, and have enough electricity left over to operate family vehicles, or to export into the grid system.”
