Right Lane Cruiser
04-14-2009, 07:21 AM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg Many of the project's details remain under wraps, and others haven't been decided yet. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/13/MN7S171PSL.DTL)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Satelite.JPGDavid R. Baker - The San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com) - April 14, 2009
Wouldn't this be cool??? I'd be afraid of getting fried by the downlink, though... --Ed.
California's next source of renewable power could be an orbiting set of solar panels, high above the equator, that would beam electricity back to Earth via a receiving station in Fresno County.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has agreed to buy power from a startup company that wants to tap the strong, unfiltered sunlight found in space to solve the growing demand for clean energy.
Sometime before 2016, Solaren Corp. plans to launch the world's first orbiting solar farm. Unfurled in space, the panels would bask in near-constant sunshine and provide a steady flow of electricity day and night. Receivers on the ground would take the energy - transmitted through a beam of electromagnetic waves - and feed it into California's power grid.
The idea has been discussed for decades. It appeared in science fiction as far back as 1941 and later received serious study by NASA and the Pentagon. At times, it has been dismissed as fantasy.
But San Francisco's PG&E considers it realistic enough to support. The company asked the California Public Utilities Commission on Friday for... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/13/MN7S171PSL.DTL
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Satelite.JPGDavid R. Baker - The San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com) - April 14, 2009
Wouldn't this be cool??? I'd be afraid of getting fried by the downlink, though... --Ed.
California's next source of renewable power could be an orbiting set of solar panels, high above the equator, that would beam electricity back to Earth via a receiving station in Fresno County.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has agreed to buy power from a startup company that wants to tap the strong, unfiltered sunlight found in space to solve the growing demand for clean energy.
Sometime before 2016, Solaren Corp. plans to launch the world's first orbiting solar farm. Unfurled in space, the panels would bask in near-constant sunshine and provide a steady flow of electricity day and night. Receivers on the ground would take the energy - transmitted through a beam of electromagnetic waves - and feed it into California's power grid.
The idea has been discussed for decades. It appeared in science fiction as far back as 1941 and later received serious study by NASA and the Pentagon. At times, it has been dismissed as fantasy.
But San Francisco's PG&E considers it realistic enough to support. The company asked the California Public Utilities Commission on Friday for... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/13/MN7S171PSL.DTL