Science fiction drawing of solar power station

What is a solar power station?

It sounds like science fiction: giant solar power stations floating in space that beam down enormous amounts of energy to Earth. And for a long time, the concept – first developed by the Russian scientist, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, in the 1920s – was mainly an inspiration for writers.

How did Space Station V change science fiction?

In 1968, a rotating wheel-shaped space station danced across the silver screen and changed science fiction forever. Space Station V in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey immediately became one of the most iconic creations in the history of cinema.

Could a solar power station be built in space?

It’s also dependent on good weather, as cloud cover will reduce the amount of energy that can be collected. If we could build a solar power station in space, though, we’d avoid these issues. Such a station could collect solar power 24 hours a day and wouldn’t need to store energy in bulky batteries.

Can solar power be harvested from space?

No matter how advanced or capable they might be, most powered wheelchairs available today suffer from the same fundamental flaw: They aren’t easy to transport when they’re not in use. Isaac Asimov's idea of harvesting solar power from space may not be a thing of fiction much longer as space agencies explore the concept.

Can solar energy be generated in space?

A possible way around this would be to generate solar energy in space. There are many advantages to this. A space-based solar power station could orbit to face the Sun 24 hours a day. The Earth’s atmosphere also absorbs and reflects some of the Sun’s light, so solar cells above the atmosphere will receive more sunlight and produce more energy.

Can we make a solar power station?

To make a power station, we’d need much larger solar panels than those used on spacecraft, and we’d need to design the hardware to handle high voltages. But that should be a matter of incrementally improving on current technologies rather than having to create entirely new solutions.