Teh interesting tech news stub thread

[Twin-Skies]

Space Based Solar Power Satellite Program from PG&E and Solaren

Now PG&E is taking their approach at tapping renewable energy to an entirely new level: solar power in space.“Solaren says it plans to generate the power using solar panels in earth orbit, then convert it to radio frequency energy for transmission to a receiving station in Fresno County. From there, the energy will be converted to electricity and fed into PG&E’s power grid.” ~ Next100.com

The advantages of space solar power include:

energy that can be harnessed at all times, even at night or when it’s cloudy.
baseload power delivery that makes efficient electricity possible to meet customer demand.
an underlying technology that is mature since it is based on communications satellite technology.
Before all this happens however, PG&E needs approval from the California State Legislature, through the California Public Utilities Commission for this Solaren Space Based Energy Contract. Currently, Solaren is preparing to launch space rockets containing the solar panels and they have been working with United Launch Alliance (a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company) on such launches.