Space Solar Energy

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced December 3 that Fresno County will host the first space-based solar power plant in the US. Solaren Corporation will launch satellites boasting solar cells to collect energy in outer space and transform it to radio waves that will be sent back to earth, converted into electricity, and fed into the power grid. Solaren will sell this energy to Pacific Gas and Electric Co., according to the 15-year contract approved by the CPUC starting in 2016. The US has been researching this technology for decades; Japan announced earlier this year that it has similar plans to generate space-based renewable energy.