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Whether you\u2019re covering\u00a0<\/span>deserts,\u00a0ugly parking lots,\u00a0canals, or even\u00a0sunny lakes with solar panels, clouds will occasionally get in the way\u2014and every day the sun must set. No problem, says the European Space Agency: Just put the solar arrays in space.\u00a0<\/p>\n The agency recently announced a new exploratory program called\u00a0Solaris, which aims to figure out if it is technologically and economically feasible to launch solar structures into orbit, use them to harness the sun\u2019s power, and transmit energy to the ground.<\/p>\n If this concept comes to fruition, by sometime in the 2030s Solaris could begin providing always-on space-based solar power. Eventually, it could make up 10 to 15 percent of Europe\u2019s energy use, playing a role in the European Union\u2019s goal of achieving\u00a0net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. \u201cWe\u2019re thinking about the climate crisis and the need to find solutions. What more could space do to help mitigate climate change\u2014not just monitor it from above, as we\u2019ve been doing for the past few decades?\u201d asks Sanjay Vijendran, who heads the initiative and plays a leading role in the agency\u2019s Mars program as well.<\/p>\n The primary driver for Solaris, Vijendran says, is the need for continuous clean energy sources. Unlike fossil fuel and nuclear power, solar and wind\u00a0are intermittent\u2014even the sunniest solar farms sit idle the majority of the time. It won\u2019t be possible to store massive amounts of energy from renewables until\u00a0battery technologies improve. Yet according to Vijendran, space solar arrays could be more than 90 percent efficient. (The remaining 10 or so percent of the time, the Earth would be directly between the sun and the array, blocking the light.)<\/p>\n The program\u2014unrelated to\u00a0Stanis\u0142aw Lem\u2019s sci-fi novel with the same name\u2014is considered a \u201cpreparatory\u201d one, meaning the ESA has already completed a pilot study, but it\u2019s not yet ready for full-scale development. It calls for designing an in-orbit demonstration of the technology, launching it in 2030, developing a small version of a space solar power plant in the mid-2030s, and then scaling it up dramatically. For now, ESA researchers will begin by investigating what it would take to robotically assemble the modules of a large solar array, for example while in\u00a0geostationary orbit at an altitude of about 22,000 miles. This way, the structure would remain continuously above a particular point on the ground, regardless of the Earth\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n For the project to go forward, Vijendran and his team must determine by 2025 that it\u2019s indeed possible to achieve space-based solar in a cost-efficient way. NASA and the Department of Energy\u00a0explored the concept in the 1970s and ’80s, but sidelined it because of the expense and technological challenges. Still, much has changed since then. Launch costs have dropped, mainly thanks to\u00a0reusable\u00a0rockets. Satellites have become\u00a0cheaper to mass-produce. And the\u00a0cost of photovoltaics, which convert sunlight into electricity, has fallen, making solar power in orbit more competitive with terrestrial energy sources.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n