The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has proposed approval of a long-term contract between PG&E Corp.'s (PCG) utility and the Solaren Corp, developers of a technology that would beam 200 megawatts of solar power to earth from outer space if the plan is approved prior to December 3, 2009, according to various media reports. The CPUC's proposed draft approval decision is linked here. The Solaren plan is to offer PG&E electricity from space in 2016.
PowerSat and Space Energy are other private sector firms looking to take space-based solar power technology to the commercial market. TEDx Notting Hill heard a presentation from Peter Sage (videos 1 and 2) last month. The second decade of the 21st Century may bear witnesses space-based solar power demonstration-to-commercialization.
Virginia has the essentials to also take-up space-based solar power in the near-term future. There are discussions underway within the Virginia Technology Alliance to discuss in 2010 the the concept of a space-based solar power energy demonstrator-to-commercial flyer.
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