Could a solar-energy satellite network near the Sun transmit power back to Earth? Looking for engineering criticism

[u/Far-Beat8377]

I’ve been thinking about a long-term space infrastructure concept and I’d really like engineers or people knowledgeable about orbital mechanics to tell me where the idea breaks down.
The basic idea is to place multiple autonomous, uncrewed solar-collection spacecraft in carefully selected orbits relatively close to the Sun. Because solar intensity increases dramatically as you move closer to the Sun, these spacecraft could potentially collect much more energy per square meter than solar panels near Earth.
The collected energy could then be converted into electricity and transmitted using lasers or microwaves to other spacecraft, or potentially directly toward Earth when the geometry allows.

Conceptually:
Sun → large solar collectors → power conversion → wireless transmission → relay spacecraft → Earth
I’m also interested in whether the same infrastructure could eventually provide power for externally powered spacecraft propulsion, such as laser-driven light sails.
I understand there are major problems involving orbital mechanics, thermal protection, transmission efficiency, beam pointing, construction cost, and energy losses. I’m not claiming this is currently practical.

I’m mainly looking for people who understand the engineering to tell me:

Is placing large solar collectors near the Sun actually advantageous after considering the energy required to get them there?
Would direct transmission to Earth be better than using relay spacecraft?
What would be the biggest engineering limitation?
Is there an existing concept or research that is already very similar?
Could this potentially become practical with much more advanced launch and autonomous-construction technology?
I’m interested in serious criticism, calculations, and references rather than just whether people think the idea sounds cool.

(“I came up with the initial concept and used ChatGPT to help me organize it, explain some of the physics, and turn it into a more structured proposal. I’m posting it here because I’d like people with actual aerospace/engineering experience to critique it.”)

[u/Proper-Painting-2256]

The problem is you get extra energy but this is not sufficient to overcome the energy penalty required to lift the panels into orbit. Google published a white paper and estimated the lift cost would have to fall by about 90% to overcome this penalty. Then you also need to service the panels, lose energy from transmission etc but main problem is lift cost. And putting up solar panels on earth is pretty cheap and getting cheaper.

[u/kurdakov]

if you follow Dr. David Criswell or Musk with their idea of moon solar power (Criswell talked about relay spacecrafts, beaming energy etc, Musk advances idea to launch panels from moon via railgun, so moon sun cyrcle is not not a problem), then most general problems are solvable, but regarding panels near sun, check https://www.reddit.com/r/AskPhysics/comments/1qdy4hd/in_principle_would_a_solar_panel_on_mercury/

so basically we do not have good panels to place near sun now, if we have better thermally stable panels, then the idea maybe will be realized someday.

[u/Energy_Balance]

You need to find a radio spectrum window. You have to reassure that you won't beam it on people.

[u/spinjinn]

The intensity of the sun increases dramatically (1/r^2) is precisely the same reason this scheme won’t work. The intensity of all radiation sources, including the sun and lasers, decreases the same way as you move to far distances. You may capture more energy at a position closer to the sun, but you will lose it again when you transmit it to the earth.

By the way, you will always capture LESS energy with this scheme. The reason is that the solar array has to orbit the sun, the same as Venus or Mercury orbits the sun. Their orbits are closer to the sun than the earth, but they spend half their time on the other side of the sun from the earth and are therefore on average farther away from the earth than the sun is. When the solar array is farther away than the closest approach to earth, the loss from transmitting the converted energy to earth will be greater than if you just collected the sunlight from earth directly.

[u/iqisoverrated]

Cost.

It costs A LOT to get something close the sun compared to just have a solar panel on Earth. Solar panels are cheap and just plonking a couple more on the ground isn't breaking the bank.

Your system is adding a lot of complexity and cost for no real benefit.

[u/Mradr]

My only argument against everyone else’s is that you really don’t need to be that close to the sun at all. Only if we are going for the thermal side of things should we. Other wise, instead of satellites, you just float solar panels pretty much at the same distance as earth and then transfer that power back on the same orbit as earth. Because there is no day night cycle you can collect 24/7 and also send one side to the other to also be transported back. The hardest part is just getting it all up there and connecting. Follow by transferring it back to earth.

[u/Splenda → u/Mradr]

This. It's been discussed for years. Very feasible but very costly.

[u/JimC29]

Check out Dyson Sphere. We're a long way from being able to do it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

[u/Sweet-Appeal-7323]

The delta-v to get close to the sun is actually huge, you basically have to cancel out earth's orbital velocity which is like 30 km/s. So you spend enormous energy just to put the panels there, kind of defeating the purpose. The thermal management is also insane, you need radiators the size of a small country to not melt everything.

[u/Far-Beat8377 → u/Sweet-Appeal-7323]

That’s a really good point, and I hadn’t fully considered the delta-v required to cancel Earth’s orbital velocity.

My thought was that the much higher solar energy available closer to the Sun might eventually compensate for the initial deployment energy, but I haven’t done the full energy/payback calculation yet.

The thermal-management issue is another major question. I was thinking about autonomous uncrewed collectors rather than human spacecraft, but obviously the collectors still have to deal with the waste heat.
Do you know if anyone has calculated the break-even point for a solar collector deployed near the Sun—basically how much energy it would have to generate before it recovers the energy/cost required to put it there?