Japan is aiming to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth using laser beams or microwave.
Japan's government has picked companies and researchers to turn the multi-billion dollar dream of unlimited clean energy into reality by 2030.
The Space Solar Power System involves an array of photovoltaic dishes reaching across several square miles that hover in geostationary orbit outside the Earth's atmosphere.
"Since solar power is a clean and inexhaustible energy source, we believe that this system will be able to help solve the problems of energy shortage and global warming," Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one of the project participants, said.
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The solar cells would capture the sun's energy, which is at least five times stronger in space than on Earth, and beam it down to the ground through clusters of lasers or microwaves.
PHOTO CREDIT: USEF
