PGE Plans Purchase of Space-Based Solar Power

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E)(NYSE: PCG) is seeking approval from regulators to enter into a power purchase agreement with Solaren Corp, a company that wants to beam energy back to earth from satellite-based solar panels. 

Space-based solar is an idea that has been in development for years, but the announcement made on a PG&E weblog marks a significant step in making the theory a reality.

Energy produced by orbiting solar panels would be converted to radio-frequency energy for transmission to a receiving station on earth. There the energy would be converted to electricity and added to the power grid. 

Numerous regulatory and cost hurdles remain, but space-based solar would have the advantage of constant exposure to sunlight, unrestricted by cloudy weather and nighttime cycles.

PG&E said it does not intend to provide any up-front payments to help fund Solaren’s operations. "We’ve been very careful not to bear risk in this," PG&E spokesman Jonathan Marshall told msnbc.com.

PG&E has agreed to buy 200 megawatts of power through a 15-year power purchase agreement.

Solaren is an eight-year-old company based in Manhattan Beach, California. The company projects commercial operations beginning in 2016.

Read extended coverage at the link below.

Website: [sorry this link is no longer available]     
(Visited 6,655 times, 7 visits today)

Post Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *