US utility eyes space-based solar power

The US-based Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) says it hopes to begin tapping a new source of renewable energy: solar energy collected by photovoltaic panels orbiting the Earth.

The company unveiled the plan on its Next100 Weblog.

In the blog, PG&E said it’s seeking state regulators’ OK to purchase power from Solaren Corporation, which plans to generate space-based solar power. The California firm says it could deliver up to 200 megawatts of energy over 15 years by converting energy from orbiting photovoltaic panels into radio energy that would then be transferred to a receiving station in Fresno County. That energy would then be converted back to electricity and fed into PG&E’s power grid.

The benefit of space-based solar power is the lack of interference from atmosphere, clouds, nighttime and seasonal variations. By getting rid of those problems, space-based solar could provide eight to 10 times as much energy as ground-based solar, and could be available around the clock, according to PG&E.