California Homes to Receive Electricity from Space by 2016

Solar energy, gathered from Solar Panels on a satellite, will power California homes by 2016. A company called Solaren Corp. will sell PG&E 200 megawatts of space solar power over 15 years under a power purchase agreement. This will enable PG&E to power tens of thousands of homes.

This renewable energy technology goes far beyond solar panels on roof tops. Solaren will use solar panels on satellites, in Earth orbit, to capture the sun's power and convert it to RF energy and beam it back down to ground receiving stations. The energy would then be converted to electricity and feed into PG&E's power grid.

This method has already been proven back in 2008, when a former NASA scientist demonstrated the radio wave transmission technology. His team transmitted solar power over a distance of 92 miles between two Hawaiian Islands and converted it to electricity.

Solar power technology is nothing new and has been used for 45 years now to collect solar power from solar cells on satellites and convert it to radio frequency energy for transmissions to Earth receive stations.

Solaren's power satellite design would make use of existing launch capabilities and would not require new types of rockets. The ground receiving station would be located close to existing power transmission lines, somewhere in Fresno County, Calif.

PG&E have already started seeking approval for the deal from California state regulators. Additional details of Solaren's pilot project for its power satellites are expected some time this summer.