BTW, my first knowledge of the "solar uplift tower" concept was a proposal I read in the late 80s or early 90s suggesting that a string of them should be built on land along the Florida cost to degrade hurricanes-- the electricity (and clean water) generated was advertised as a fringe benefit. Here's a similar (but not quite the same) proposal:
http://www.greenidealive.org/110599/...ne-killer.html