An out-of-this-world power deal

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California regulators gave the go-ahead today to a power-purchase agreement involving the nation’s first solar power plant in space.

Energy reporter Tiffany Hsu writes that Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the state’s largest utility, will proceed with a 15-year contract with Manhattan Beach start-up Solaren Corp., after receiving approval from the California Public Utilities Commission.

The project, which is expected to go live in 2016, will use solar cells from Solaren on orbiting satellites to convert energy from the sun into radio-frequency waves. The waves will be transmitted to a receiving station near Fresno and reverted back into electricity.

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