MORE ON SOLAR POWER FROM SPACE - Are Solar Satellites the Next Big Thing?

By Keith Johnson

Is Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan for space-based solar power as crazy as it sounds? Yes and no—it’s not as crazy as it is expensive with today’s technology.

The California utility, which just requested permission to enter a 15-year agreement with privately-held Solaren Corp. to deploy a big solar-power satellite in space, buried all the technical and economic details of the proposal in the confidential section of its regulatory filing. In a ho-hum manner, PG&E largely portrayed space-based solar as just another way for the power company to comply with increasingly-stringent state targets for clean-energy generation.

The biggest challenge, PG&E said, is building a large, multi-megawatt satellite to harvest solar power in space; the small solar arrays currently in use are a fraction of that size.

For the Pentagon, which took a close look at space-based solar power in 2007, the idea has both more potential and even bigger challenges. The report called space-based solar a “viable and attractive” way to diversify the nation’s energy supplies.

The upside: Solar arrays in space would have unfettered, 24-hour access to solar radiation, making it true baseload power. The 2007 report notes that a single, kilometer-wide strip in space holds more energy potential than all the world’s oil and gas reserves.

The downside: Putting solar arrays in space in the first place. Simply put,
“existing launch infrastructure cannot close the business case,” the report found.

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE AT THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

SUN IS DIMMEST ITS BEEN IN A CENTURY - So Why are the Earth's Temps on the Rise?

The sun is the dimmest it has been for almost a century, scientists say.

Leading astronomers admit they are baffled why the Earth's closest star has gone so quiet - and when it will burst back into life.

The sun normally goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. At its peak - a period known as the solar maximum - the sun is covered with dozens of sun spots as it spits out vast flares and balls of superheated gas the size of planets.

Baffled: Scientists last year assumed the sun was entering an active phase but instead it has hit a 100-year low in sunspot activity

At the other end of the cycle, during the solar minimum, it is calm with relatively few sun spots and few eruptions. Last year, scientists assumed the sun was about to become more active after a quiet few years.

But instead it has hit a 100-year low in sunspot activity, a 50-year low in solar wind pressure and a 55-year low in radio emissions. The observations have intrigued astronomers who are studying new images at the UK National Astronomy Meeting this week.

ARTICLE CONTINUES HERE AT DAILY MAIL UK

SOLAR ARRAYS BECOME 4X MORE EFFICIENT - Northern California prepares for Solar power from space

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.

ARTICLE CONTINUES AT CNET

NEW ENERGY METHOD OR DEATH STAR? Solar Flare Surprise: Pure Hydrogen Shot at Earth

This powerful solar flare was spotted on Dec. 5, 2006, erupting from the sun's eastern limb (left side). Credit: NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.
By SPACE.com Staff

posted: 16 December 2008
08:08 am ET

A surprising solar flare sent a stream of pure hydrogen at Earth.

"We've detected a stream of perfectly intact hydrogen atoms shooting out of an X-class solar flare," said researcher Richard Mewaldt of Caltech. "If we can understand how these atoms were produced, we'll be that much closer to understanding solar flares."

Solar flares occur when the sun's twisted magnetic fields suddenly release their stored energy. The energy jolts are classified into three categories, with X-class solar flares being major events that can trigger radio blackouts around the world and long-lasting radiation storms in the upper atmosphere. (M-class are medium-sized flares and C-class are small flares with few consequences on Earth.)

The event occurred on Dec. 5, 2006, when a large sunspot rounded the sun's eastern limb and with little warning it exploded. On the "Richter scale" of flares, which ranks X1 as a big event, the blast registered X9, making it one of the strongest flares over the past 30 years.

article continues at SPACE.COM