From building a 500-mile car battery to creating electricity in space through solar, we continue to look for ways to solve the world’s energy challenge. The idea of beaming solar power down to Earth from space was popularized in a 1941 story in which the machinery was controlled by a robot called Cutie.
Scientists in the U.S. and Japan are pursing modern versions of space stations as solar panels promise to become more affordable.
How would these space stations work? Panels would orbit in space and would be immune from rain, clouds, and darkness. The panels would be 43 times more efficient than land-based ones, according to NASA. Satellites would then beam the energy to Earth in the form of microwave radiation.
As always with solar, the biggest hang up is cost. Building a space solar operation would cost billions.