Space-Based Solar Farms Could Power the Planet from Orbit

The variability of renewable energy is one of the key hurdles standing between us and a net-zero future. Unlike baseload fossil fuels, which can be easily manipulated to produce enough supply to meet demand at any given time, renewable energy sources like solar and wind power depend on uncontrollable elements like the weather and the time of day.

Finding a way to better match renewable energy supply with demand will therefore be critical to meeting global decarbonization goals.  The leading solution for this problem of variability is long-term…