FYI,

"Making Space Power Pay"
MSNBC
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/18/2075033.aspx

: Power-beaming systems are moving from drawing boards and computer
: slideshow presentations to actual demonstrations on tabletops and
: in exhibit halls. But what will it take to turn power beams into
: profitable outer-space ventures?

: Strangely enough, the challenge of constructing a sheet of
: thin-film solar cells that unfolds to a width of 1,000 feet
: (300 meters) in orbit is not the issue uppermost in the mind of
: William Maness, chief executive officer of Everett, Wash.-based
: PowerSat Corp. The problems that lead his list have more to do with
: earthly affairs - such as getting investors, utilities and
: regulators to buy into the idea.

: Maness told a small gathering at a National Space Society meeting
: in Seattle this week that the pitch for space solar power has been
: directed too often at space enthusiasts who don't have a financial
: stake in the issue, rather than energy utility executives who do.

: "This is one of the reasons why this concept has taken so long to
: start to catch on," he said.

: Maness favors a more market-centered approach to the issue, and
: there are signs that the approach is taking hold. But other signs
: show why the challenge facing Maness and his colleagues in the
: space-power business is so daunting.

: The Solaren story

: First, the positive side: Maness pointed to Solaren Corp.'s deal
: with San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Eelectric for a 200-megawatt
: space solar power pilot project as a potential success story. "That
: was some brilliant work," he said.

: The deal still must pass regulatory muster, however, beginning with
: approval by California's Public Utilities Commission. Cal Boerman,
: Solaren's director for energy services, told me today that he
: expected the commission to make its decision in October or
: November. The company is also continuing its talks with potential
: launch providers such as United Launch Alliance, Boerman said.

: Solaren's plan calls for sending power-generating satellites, or
: powersats, into space on four Atlas 5 heavy-lift rockets. The
: satellites would convert solar electric power into microwave energy
: for beaming down to a ground station, based within a mile or so of
: the existing power grid. Proximity to the grid is key, Boerman
: said: Neither PG&E nor the PUC wants to put in miles and miles of
: new high-voltage electrical lines to make use of solar-generated
: power.

: The scheme would have to gain approval from the Federal Aviation
: Administration (because of the commercial launches) and the Federal
: Communications Commission (because each powersat is essentially a
: big telecommunication satellite), as well as from all the
: regulatory agencies who have a say in how the ground power station
: is built. Then Solaren would have to put the system into operation
: by 2016, or risk penalties prescribed by its PG&E contract.

: Some say the Solaren deal is a "scam ... pure and simple." One
: scenario suggests that PG&E pursued the deal because it's a no-risk
: way to line up an excuse for falling short of California's
: renewable energy standards ("Gee, we tried our best, but our
: suppliers just couldn't follow through on their promises"). Maness,
: however, thinks that Solaren has displayed enviable business savvy
: so far. He counts the company as a rival to be respected.

: Cost vs. benefit

: Maness' vision for PowerSat would go far beyond Solaren's pilot
: project to put 300 powersats into orbit, forming a constellation
: capable of generating 2,500 megawatts of power. That would be an
: impressive resource, equal to more than a third of Grand Coulee
: Dam's electrical output. The only problem is, right now the
: project's numbers don't add up.

: To be competitive with other power sources, Maness figures that the
: powersat system's launch costs would have to be around $100 per
: pound - which is roughly one-hundredth of the current asking price.
: Launch costs may be heading downward, thanks in part to the rise of
: SpaceX's Falcon rockets, but Maness can't yet predict when the
: charts tracing cost and benefit will cross into the profitable zone.

: For now, Maness is targeting the 2017-2018 time frame for a space
: demonstration project. In the meantime, he's hoping to work through
: a tangle of regulatory issues and also keep an eye on his potential
: competitors - including not only Solaren but also Space Energy
: Inc., Space Island Group, Space Canada and Welsom Space Consortium.

: "It's a race for us right now," Maness said.

: Demonstrations in the works

: Just in the past month there was quite a buzz over reports that
: Japanese companies were planning to join a $21 billion effort to
: set up a powersat system - but it's now clear that those reports
: were overblown.

: The near-term investment is more on the order of $2 million for a
: demonstration of power-beaming technology, Maness said. If the
: technology works successfully in Earth-based tryouts, the Japanese
: plan to launch a test powersat in 2015. But a 1,000-megawatt space
: generating system of the sort mentioned in the initial reports is
: probably two decades down the road.

: Japanese researchers have already made progress in the Earth-based
: demonstration phase: During a powersat symposium conducted this
: month in Toronto, Kobe University researcher Nobuyuki Kaya and his
: colleagues demonstrated an antenna system that could beam enough
: microwave energy across a 30-foot (10-meter) exhibit hall to power
: a small rover.

: Maness has his own earthly demonstrations in the works: At the
: Seattle talk, he showed off a wireless power generator the size of
: a breadbox that transmitted enough power (5 watts) to light up LED
: lights about a foot away. And he has grander plans for building a
: demonstration power beamer mounted on a 20-foot truck, capable of
: transmitting 10 kilowatts over a distance of about 300 yards
: (meters).

: The clock is ticking, however - not only for the powersat market
: but for other energy alternatives as well.

: Terrestrial solar power may have its drawbacks. In addition to
: potential environmental concerns, large-scale solar farms can't
: generate a steady flow of electricity at night, or during cloudy
: weather. But if engineers ever figure out a way to store up the
: intermittent energy generated by solar cells or wind turbines, at
: levels high enough to keep utilities flush with power, Maness
: thinks that would deal a heavy blow to his powersat dreams.

: "At that point, I take my marbles and go home," he said.

Mark Reiff