This is the best idea to come out of this whole scheme. Space solar panels are super cheap and efficient? Prove it! Launch them and transmit the energy down.
This is orders of magnitude easier than the original proposal -- and yet still nonsensical.
Beaming power down to Earth from space-based solar collectors is a concept that's been around for a while.
"Dr. Glaser is best known as the inventor of the Solar Power Satellite concept, which he first presented in the journal Science for November 22, 1968 (“Power from the Sun: It’s Future”). In 1973 he was granted a U.S. patent on the Solar Power Satellite to supply power from space for use on the Earth."
One thing that always struck me was that you wouldn't want to be living near the "collectors". A very small angular error in beaming could result in being literally microwaved.
> "A very small angular error in beaming could result in being literally microwaved."
One of the SimCity games had this as an occasional disaster event. You had to make sure your ground collector stations weren't too close to the rest of the city or risk setting your buildings on fire.
This is orders of magnitude easier than the original proposal -- and yet still nonsensical.