Early look at notional California Solar Sat?

The slugline reads, "Illustration of the power plant beaming former solar energy to Earth," which seems straightforward enough, not to confirm this one way or another, but it does fit the description of a modular deployment, light-weight collector relay design. Though the price may be right, this may resemble the eventual design as much as the Saturn-Apollo concept drawings resembled the finished product ten years later.

This from the latest summary on the preliminary concept approval posted to HeatingOil.com (beta), California approves space-based solar plant.

Space-based solar plant gets go-ahead

Emma Woollacott
TG Daily

California regulators have given the go-ahead to a project to beam solar energy from space.

The idea has been in the pipeline for some time, but has only now received official approval.

Solaren plans to use satellites equipped with Mylar mirrors up to 1km across which will concentrate the light onto photovoltaic panels. Power will be transmitted via radio frequency energy to a ground station in California. The project should get going in 2016.

Utility Pacific Gas and Electric has contracted to buy 1,700GW hours per year for 15 years from Solaren - enough to power tens of thousands of homes.

Space-based solar power has been under development for several decades, and this summer the Japanese government announced plans to pursue a space-based solar program.

PG&E and other California utilities are required to use renewable sources for a fifth of the power they sell by 2010.