Solaren Corp to supply California with space-based solar power

After JAXA's announcement of space-based solar power for Japan, we've been keeping our eyes peeled for some news of similar projects Stateside. Lo and behold, California's largest energy utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, has agreed to do just that, inking a deal with solar power startup Solaren Corp. The agreement calls for the utility to purchase 200 megawatts of electricity once the company starts beaming power down from Earth orbit beginning in 2016. A solar-power satellite would consist of mirror arrays -- perhaps measuring up to several miles wide -- which would focus sunlight onto photoelectric cells. From there, the electrical power is converted into a microwave beam that is directed downward toward Earth, where it's converted back into electricity and then fed into the grid. According to the company, the system could generate roughly 1.2 to 4.8 gigawatts of power, at a price comparable to that of other renewable energy sources. When asked for a comment, legendary sci-fi jazz composer Sun Ra was more than enthusiastic. "Space is the place," he said.

[Via Fresno Bee]

[skyblaze @ Apr 15th 2009 11:22AM]

DAMMIT! skyblaze doesn't live in europe :(

[Slappy Wag @ Apr 15th 2009 8:54PM]

Seen on CNN's screen ticker in 2018: "A meteor the size of a grain of sand travelling at 125,000 MPH hit one of the solar power satellites today, causing it to falter in orbit, annihilating the entire population of Australia."

[shac @ Apr 15th 2009 11:23AM]

uhh... they obviously never played Sim City or they'd know this always ends badly.

[Mike @ Apr 15th 2009 11:27AM]

Ahahaha yes!

[ecin @ Apr 15th 2009 12:02PM]

Sim City, or The Bouncer. This was Mikado Enterprise's plan as well.

[Jason @ Apr 15th 2009 11:41AM]

Oh come on. You know you all built the microwave energy plant specifically for the disaster =D

[L @ Apr 15th 2009 11:45AM]

Damn you beat me to it.

[brandon @ Apr 15th 2009 12:09PM]

Time to sound the alarm!

[bioadam @ Apr 15th 2009 1:01PM]

The fictional North Koreans tried this in "Die Another Day".

[dan2600 @ Apr 15th 2009 4:11PM]

ugh....beat me to it as well.

[nikster @ Apr 16th 2009 12:06AM]

I wouldn't be all that surprised if the Military was behind this.

A 1.5GW microwave beam at your command? Who could resist...

[Bellzebub @ Apr 15th 2009 11:23AM]

I wonder if planes would spark like a foil dish in a microwave oven if they flew underneath this? I also wonder how long it will be before DARPA changes the microwaves for "pain rays" and uses this to subjugate large swathes of native populations?

[KarlW @ Apr 15th 2009 1:15PM]

Nope, but it's no good for the ants...uhm, I mean people below.

Because you know, California has no sun. It really needs a device to concentrate solar radiation.

[KarlW @ Apr 15th 2009 1:23PM]

Uhum, perhaps I shouldn't have skim read the article. Solar cells in space being pumped down by microwaves.

I'm sceptical that it'll work, but it's probably not dangerous. Reassuring, no?

[Eric @ Apr 15th 2009 11:25AM]

This reminds me of SimCity 2000 which had microwave power plants. Except from time to time the microwave beam would get off target and destroy everything in it's path and burn up the city.

[James Barsby @ Apr 15th 2009 11:27AM]

Does 1.21 of gigawatts of focused microwave radiation being fired at us from space, sound 'dangerous' to anyone?


…just waiting for that toolbox NASA dropped to collide with it.

[The J @ Apr 15th 2009 11:40AM]

We need a flux capacitor now...

[Smoke_me_a_Kipper @ Apr 16th 2009 12:36AM]

Let's call it the Telsa Array aka The DEATH RAY.

[The J @ Apr 15th 2009 11:42AM]

Now we need a flux capacitor...

[leafkin @ Apr 15th 2009 11:53AM]

Yes.

It also sounds like a plot for Back to the Future 4! lolz

[Ed Robles @ Apr 15th 2009 12:06PM]

I'm not worried. The whole system will probably be running Windows and will BSOD before it ever becomes a Big Ray Of Death :-)

[Dave Skaggs @ Apr 15th 2009 12:11PM]

I'm wondering about the additional effects to global warming. We're already bringing in too much heat, now they're adding more from space...?

[TaBu @ Apr 15th 2009 11:26AM]

I can sure find good use for my tin foil hat now..
Getting ready to be microwaved, yes sir!!!

[JayC @ Apr 15th 2009 11:27AM]

what about all that space debris? how will something several miles wide fit up there????

[The J @ Apr 15th 2009 11:41AM]

Bah...wrong post, up one...

[The J @ Apr 15th 2009 11:43AM]

I fail...

[David Talmage @ Apr 15th 2009 11:27AM]

Uh-oh! Icarus! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_another_day

[Mattvega @ Apr 15th 2009 11:28AM]

boring!

[James @ Apr 15th 2009 11:30AM]

ONE POINT TWENTY ONE JIGGA-WATTS?

[schnoid @ Apr 15th 2009 11:47AM]

Must be powering the government's flux capacitor? Don't they realize they can just use a lightening bolt!?!

[kastonie @ Apr 15th 2009 4:18PM]

Jigga Please!

[The Heretic @ Apr 15th 2009 11:31AM]

"In other news, a solar powered satellite was knocked off course today, causing a 'magnifying glass to ants' effect on the population."

[Dave @ Apr 15th 2009 11:32AM]

I vaguely recall someone complaining about global warming. Let's put some mirrors up in space to point them towards the earth. That shouldn't have any impact!

[mitt @ Apr 15th 2009 11:39AM]

i think your joking but there wasn't enough sarcasm to make me sure....

please tell me your joking

[Metro @ Apr 15th 2009 11:43AM]

lol awesome!

[barry99705 @ Apr 15th 2009 11:51AM]

Where does it say they are going to point the mirrors at the earth?

[Joe @ Apr 15th 2009 11:57AM]

I think that if we capture sunlight like this, it's going to take away from the sunlight going to other planets! Interplanetary Cooling!

[Mattvega @ Apr 15th 2009 11:39AM]

Use it to burn humongous corn field signs! :/ Controlled by an iPhone using RFID :D With OS 3.0 8D

[indigo_theatre @ Apr 15th 2009 11:40AM]

+1 @ Sun-Ra reference

[gnuton @ Apr 15th 2009 12:00PM]

Haha, yes! I never though I see the day bringing such an obscure jazz reference to Engadget.

Have you seen the movie "Space is the Place"? Now there movie that will leave you in a 2 day WTF stupor...

[leafkin @ Apr 15th 2009 11:52AM]

I still think this might be a bad idea. We'll have focused, high power microwaves being beamed back to earth. If we want real "green" technology we have to take in consideration more than just the effect on humans.

Has their been sufficient testing on what might happen if an airplane passes through the beam? My thinking is nothing at all, since it would pass through so quickly, but has airplane electronics been exposed to these types of microwave for testing (just curios)?

Also, what happens if the satellite gets bumped by space debris and knocked a kilter? Anyone think it could be possible for it to end up beaming this energy onto someone's house?

[mitt @ Apr 15th 2009 12:03PM]

I saw something about this tech on discovery, they were testing it by sending a beam between two mountains in hawaii (about 100 miles i think). guy in a helicopter flying across the beam at various distances taking readings of signal strength etc.. granted this was done for show and no real results were collected, but they did have a chopper flying in the beam for several hours (with a couple of people in it too) with no side effects.

i don't know any numbers for that beams intensity or the proposed intensity of the beam from space so this might not be applicable at all...

[windblownmonkey @ Apr 15th 2009 11:57AM]

Anyone else thinking "HAMMER OF DAWN" ?
ha ha.

[r3loaded @ Apr 15th 2009 12:26PM]

That, and the GDI Ion Cannon from C&C.

[jase @ Apr 15th 2009 12:06PM]

Or there's always consume less and have fewer babies. One or the other.

[Riggspsk @ Apr 15th 2009 3:24PM]

Don't you mean consume more babies?

[darkmax @ Apr 15th 2009 12:07PM]

are we getting to the point where we are going to build orbital elevator... just like that in Gundam 00.....

[rodney.ha @ Apr 15th 2009 4:31PM]

Exactly what I thought of... Gundam 00, haha.

[grifmusic @ Apr 15th 2009 12:19PM]

This has been planned (on paper at least) for a long time.

None of the problems or dangers seem that great - just expensive to build and get started.

Solar in space is VERY efficient and so is microwave transmitting/collecting.

For those of you afraid of microwaves frying everything up, many companies already use them to beam things around - way below dangerous levels.

In the long run, could be cheap energy, but can't imagine it being cheaper than nuclear energy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_solar_power

[henry @ Apr 15th 2009 12:48PM]

Well, seems very expensive and hard to collect. Over short distances it is fairly efficient, but signal density falls off at 1/r^4. Even a MASER would have a very wide beam in geosynchronous orbit once hitting the earth, let alone a large microwave array. That's good news if you're flying through the beam (not sure I'd want to be a slow flying bird though), but after ~23,000 miles (~37,000km) the energy density would be so low, that you'd need a huge antenna on earth.

So unless I forgot my college physics...

For instance lets imagine I have a point source radiator in space putting out a fairly narrow 2 degree beam (I have no idea how narrow you can truly transmit this much energy, but let's keep it simple here):

Beam width = spread-angle * 0.18 * distance
= 2 * 0.018 * 36800km = 1324.8km

Lets assume the signal is 1.2gW as stated

Square area is 3.1416 * (r=662400m)^2 = 1378451644416m^2

energy density = 1148.7 W/m^2 (not counting transmission losses)

You need a BA'ed antenna to capture that energy (as a point of comparison the District of Columbia has a square area of 177 sq Km)