Here is a recent development for solar energy capture which is proposed as a source of energy for the Space Station: a large fresnel lens. (Pronounced, "fra-NELL".) This was produced by United Technologies in Huntsville, AL for space applications. Way to go, guys!

A fresnel lens is the kind of lens you find in an old-time overhead projector. (It's what made the projector hot on top.) You can get flat plastic magnifying lenses like that. If you have a lens that looks like it has concentric circles all through it, that's a fresnel lens. It's like a bunch of sliced up lenses pressed together, but instead of curving and being heavy, it lies "flat" and is very light. A very thin fresnel lens magnifies like a hand-held (and thicker-lensed) magnifying glass.

How well does it work? One day at the swim club, in bright sunlight, I held a pocket-sized one near a wooden table (probably pine), and within seconds it started to smoke. Works better than glasses.

A good nutshell description, pictures, and demonstration of fresnel lenses can be found here: http://www.lanternroom.com/misc/freslens.htm

I propose that we use these fresnel lenses to channel sunlight into solar cells and transfer that energy into the U.S. power grid.

I also propose to make a kind of electric "kite" to fly up in space orbit to gather solar energy directly (without it being scattered by weather), transform it to electricity by solar cells, then pipe it down to Earth along a long cable.

Ultimately I'd like to see solar energy "beamed" down to Earth with no cable necessary--in a kind of laser projection. I don't know how it would be done, but I know that this kind of technology is soon to be within our grasp.

Strides are being made in the energy field. We need to put them into use if we are going to meet our growing energy needs. Fossil fuels will run out soon, and getting fuel from ethanol (from corn) is pure folly. Corn will not produce enough ethanol for consumption, and the process will cause a famine and beef shortage. We already have a world-affecting rice famine. 

The Sun is a relatively limitless source of power: it will not cease for as long as humans can live on this world. It powers everything here on Earth. We need to find ways to harvest its energy directly and get the full benefit of it.