Solar Energy that's far out

Hot on the heels of a japanese proposal to collect solar energy in space and 'beam' that energy back to earth comes this report from Green Inc.

California regulators have approved a utility contract for what would be the nation's first space based solar power plant.

The plan is for a 200 megawatt orbiting solar farm, the energy collected in radio waves which would be beamed to a collecting station on Earth.

As Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission pointed out "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."

Not least is the cost of putting the equipment into orbit - a cost many times that of building a similar plant on Earth.

“I’ll be the first to admit our reach may exceed its grasp,” said Mr. Peevey of the utilities commission.

You can read the full article on Green Inc by clicking here.

photo credit: denniswong

Space - The final Solar Power frontier

Japan, a country with few energy resources of its own, instead relying heavily on oil imports has already set ambitious co2 gas reduction targets this year but that is nothing compared to one of the boldest plans ever announced - the Space Solar Power System.

The idea is to place huge arrays of photovoltaic solar panels - several miles across - in space to collect the sun's rays. The energy would then be transmitted to the ground via clusters of microwaves or lasers. On the ground, huge antennae would be needed to collect the energy.

Researchers are hoping to build a 1GW system (equivalent to a medium sized atomic power plant) which would be able to produce electricity at around 5p per kilowatt-hour - 6 times cheaper than the current cost in Japan.

You can read the full details and see some pretty artist impressions of the project on Sky News website (click here).

We loved the last line "Jaxa (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) said the technology would be safe but conceded it might have to dispel fears of laser beams from above roasting birds or slicing up aircraft in mid-air". Great stuff.

photo credit: mightyohm