Two developments Thursday will help Pacific Gas and Electric Co. deliver energy from the atmosphere – with a new wind farm – and, possibly, near-Earth orbit using solar power.
State regulators approved PG&E’s request to buy electricity from an orbiting solar power plant.
Solaren Corp., a startup in Los Angeles County, plans to place a large array of solar panels in orbit, where they would bathe in near-constant sunshine undimmed by the earth’s atmosphere. The plant, which Solaren hopes to launch before 2016, would use electromagnetic waves to transmit power to a receiving station in Fresno County. (Read more at San Francisco Gate)