Harnessing the power of the sun is all the rage right now. At the end of 2022, US scientists announced a nuclear fusion breakthrough that could, in a few decades, see a clean, renewable and essentially unlimited energy source powering the world.
In reality, we’ve been using the sun’s power for decades now, in a more roundabout way. Solar panels are able to convert the star’s rays to energy here on Earth without releasing any harmful greenhouse gases into the air. The only drawback is those panels are unable to provide a continuous supply. Cloudy days block the sun’s rays from reaching the Earth. And, of course, the sun doesn’t shine at night.
So… why not put the solar panels in space? You’d be tapping into the sun’s almost unlimited supply of energy 24/7. Sci-Fi legend Isaac Asimov wrote in “Reason” of an Earth sustained by such power. The idea would be to collect power in a satellite and beam that energy back home. Scientists have been trying to figure out exactly how space solar might power our world since as far back as the Apollo program, but construction and launch of satellites has been too costly.
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