But maybe that’s changing. The futuristic idea of putting solar-energy satellites into geosynchronous orbit and beaming energy down to the terrestrial power grid may be finally getting serious attention major players in science and government.
Solaren PG&E deal
A company in Manhattan Beach, Calif., called Solaren has been working with the San Francisco-based public utility Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on plans to put a solar energy generator in geosynchronous orbit. The goal is to eventually beam power collected on unfolded solar panels down to the California energy grid via microwaves. In April, PG&E asked the California Public Utilities Commission to approve a power purchasing agreement the utility made with Solaren. If completed by 2016, the space solar project would deliver up to 200 megawatts of power, with 850 gigawatt hours generated during the first year of operation.
The utility said in its proposal that, “While emerging technologies like space solar face considerable hurdles under a traditional viability analysis, PG&E believes that potential, significant benefits to its customers from a successful space solar installation outweigh the challenges associated with a new and unproven technology.”
According to published reports, Solaren’s plans involve putting power-generating satellites into orbit using four Atlas 5 rockets. Once the satellites’ solar collectors are in place, they would convert the energy into radio waves and beam them down to Fresno County in California, where the radio waves would be converted into usable energy for the state’s energy grid.
Renewable Energy from Space
Of course, the project’s future is far from certain. The utilities commission may vote on before the end of 2009, but the project would also require approvals from other agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission.
But interest in the technology goes beyond the borders of the United States. Over the past month, Japanese companies have announced plans to build a solar-power generator in space using four square kilometres of solar panels. The $21 billion project, which would not be up and running for three decades, would have to capacity to supply the power needs of 294,000 Tokyo homes.
The companies and Japan’s trade ministry hope to demonstrate the technology with the launch of a small satellite sporting solar panels in 2015 and then test the idea of beaming the radio waves through the ionosphere.
Solar Panel Launch Costs
The profitability and viability of such projects, however, will depend on a number of factors, among them the cost of launching such satellites into Earth’s orbit. The cost of launches may plummet with the advance of private launch vehicle builders such as SpaceX in Hawthorne, Calif., but it’s unclear if costs will come down enough to make such ambitious ventures profitable.
Other impediments include public fears that technology which beams energy from space could be transformed into a weapon or used for other questionable pursuits. Wired magazine's Alex Madrigal, for instance, reported in his April 17, 2009, blog that Solaren’s chief executive has a 2006 patent application that mentions the idea using space-based power to alter weather elements, including hurricanes.
Supporters of spaced-based power say it offers more benefits – such as less dependence on foreign oil from unstable nations, less pollution and greenhouse gases, and a reduced need to ship oil on tankers half-way around the world in ecologically sensitive parts of the ocean – than liabilities. Detractors, however, argue that launch costs are too high to make it feasible -- for now.
References: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/weathermod
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