Plans for first Chinese solar power station in space revealed.

Beijing: China is taking its renewable energy push to new heights, with scientists revealing plans to build the first solar power station in space.

The sun photographed by NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope.CREDIT:

A solar power station orbiting the earth at 36,000 kilometres could tap the energy of the sun's rays without interference from the atmosphere, or seasonal and night-time loss of sunlight, Chinese media reported.

Construction of an early experimental space power plant has begun in the inland city of Chongqing, China's Science and Technology Daily reported on its front page.

A researcher from the China Academy of Space Technology Corporation, Pang Zhihao, said a space solar power station held the promise of providing "an inexhaustible source of clean energy for humans”.

Read the story from The Age by Kirsty Needham - “Plans for first Chinese solar power station in space revealed.”