Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Navy is developing technology to capture solar power in space and beam it to earth.
- The Defense Department, the world's top oil user, has been trying to use more renewable fuels as part of its effort to increase its energy security.
- The Navy has tested two prototypes of its “sandwich” module solar technology, which converts direct current into a radio frequency.
Dive Insight:
Solar from space? "Hard to tell if it's nuts until you've actually tried," said Paul Jaffe, a spacecraft engineer at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Well, Pacific Gas & Electric must also be nuts for signing a 200-MW power purchase agreement for solar from space.