Solar Plant in Space Gets Go-Ahead

FYI: Japan is right behind us on this one. However they don't expect to be up and running until 2030 with their SPS. http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/02/18/round-the-clock-solar-energy-from-space-solar-power-system/ Christi Ohrmund

FYI,

"Solar Plant in Space Gets Go-Ahead"
New York Times
http://greeninc. blogs.nytimes. com/2009/ 12/03/solar- plant-in- space-gets- go-ahead

: California regulators on Thursday went where no regulators have
: gone before approving a utility contract for the nation's first
: space-based solar power plant.

: The 200-megawatt orbiting solar farm would convert solar energy
: collected in space into radio frequency waves, which would be
: beamed to a ground station near Fresno, Calif. The radio waves
: would then be transformed back into electricity and fed into the
: power grid.

: "At the conceptual level, the advantages of space-based systems are
: significant, " said Michael Peevey, president of the California
: Public Utilities Commission, during a hearing on Thursday. "This
: technology would offer around-the-clock access to clean renewable
: energy, and while there's no doubt this project has many hurdles to
: overcome, both regulatory and technological, it's hard to argue
: with the audacity of the project."

: A Southern California start-up called Solaren will loft components
: for the solar power plant into orbit and sell the electricity it
: generates to Pacific Gas and Electric, the major utility in
: Northern California, under a 15-year contract. The project is
: supposed to be turned on in 2016.

: Solaren, founded by veterans of Hughes Aircraft, Boeing and
: Lockheed, plans to deploy a free-floating inflatable Mylar mirror
: one kilometer (0.62 miles) in diameter. This will collect and
: concentrate sunlight on a smaller mirror, that in turn will focus
: the rays on photovoltaic modules, according to the company's patent.

: In an interview with Grist in April, Gary Spirnak, Solaren's chief
: executive, said that the vital part of making a space-based solar
: farm economically viable was to take the weight out of the system
: to reduce the number of rocket launches.

: Still, Mr. Spirnak, who previously ran space shuttle flights for
: the United States Air Force, acknowledged that putting a solar
: power plant in space would cost a few billion dollars more than a
: terrestrial photovoltaic farm generating the equivalent amount of
: electricity.

: The rate that P.G.& E. agreed to pay Solaren for the electricity
: produced by the solar station remains confidential. Also,
: regulators said on Thursday that the utility could not count the
: project toward its renewable energy mandates unless certain
: milestones were met.

: "I'll be the first to admit our reach may exceed its grasp," said
: Mr. Peevey of the utilities commission.

: In a good sign for another cutting-edge utility energy project,
: California commissioners on Thursday also approved a request by
: Southern California Edison to spend $30 million to finance studies
: on what would be the world's first power plant to convert petroleum
: coke into hydrogen to generate electricity. The carbon emissions
: would be captured and used to enhance recovery of oil from wells
: near Bakersfield, Calif.

: The United States Department of Energy earlier this year awarded
: $308 million to the Hydrogen Energy California project.

: "This would be a first mover project," said Mr. Peevey.

Mark Reiff