The final frontier: solar power from space

CALIFORNIA - Pacific Gas & Electric is going to great lengths  all the way to space  in its quest for renewable energy.

The California utility said that it will seek approval from regulators to purchase 200 megawatts worth of solar energy delivered from stealth space solar power company Solaren over 15 years.

The idea of space-based solar power (SBSP) is to place a device in space that can convert solar energy into a usable form and have it transmitted wirelessly to Earth. Scientists have thought to capture solar energy from space for decades but has it has never been done commercially.

Solaren proposes placing solar panels on a satellite to generate electricity that is converted to radio frequency energy on-board and sent to a ground station in California. The receiver then converts the radio frequency energy to electricity and it is fed into the power grid.

The goal of the project is to provide electricity to PG&E by 2016, said Solaren CEO Gary Spirnak in a Q and A posted on PG&E's company blog.


PG&E, which has significant investments in different forms of renewable energy, said that there is no risk to the utility since it only pays for power produced.


In its posting, PG&E executives said that generating space solar power cost effectively is a major challenge, but the people at Solaren have a lot of experience in space and satellites. The field also can also draw on years of research.



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