wrote:
I stumbled across a 1998 paper in which the writer said thin-film
photovoltaics and improved designs could lead to a 10-fold decrease in
mass for SPSs.

Hmm-- could have been one of mine.

For some economic modelling, try this one: "Reinventing the Solar Power
Satellite", from the Houston IAF Congress, NASA TM-2004-212743 (pdf
file he
http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/GL...04-212743.html
)


--
Geoffrey A. Landis
http://www.sff.net/people/geoffrey.landis