Pacific Gas & Electric is going to great lengths--all the way to space--in its quest for renewable energy.
The California utility on Monday 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.
(Credit: Space Energy)
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.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment