Leading scientist calls for top-down plan to develop technology and warns that country is lagging behind competitors such as the US
China has been urged to speed up the development of solar power in space to gain a stronger footing in the new energy sector and the space race.
Ge Changchun, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, called in an article for a top-down strategy to speed up efforts to develop the technology and narrow the gap with the United States in sectors such as materials and precision control.
Space solar power facilities are designed to be built and operated in orbit, where they convert solar energy directly into electricity before transmitting the power to Earth via microwaves or lasers.
Unlike ground-based solar plants, space stations are not affected by the weather or nightfall. Solar radiation in space is also far more intense than on Earth, making the technology a more efficient way of continuously generating power.
