Aerospace manufacturer Northrop Grumman and the California Institute of Technology of Pasadena have partnered to research and develop a system of outer space solar panels that will transmit energy back to earth.

The three-year long Space Solar Power Initiative, announced yesterday, is funded by $17.5 million from Northrop and led by a team of engineers and researchers from Caltech.

The idea was dreamed up by three Caltech researchers who theorized that orbiting solar panels could generate and wirelessly transmit electricity efficiently enough to compete with fossil-fuel burning power plants.

Caltech is gathering a team of more than 50 students, postdoctoral scholars and researchers to staff the initiative and will build special laboratory facilities for the project. Northrop will play a support role, helping to build prototypes and verifying research findings.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.