Japan will try to beam solar power from space by 2025 For decades, Japan and its space agency, JAXA, have worked to make it possible to beam solar power from space. When JAXA scientists successfully transmitted 1.8 kilowatts of power—enough to run an electric kettle—more than 50 meters to a wireless receiver in 2015, the country experienced a major breakthrough. At this time, Japan is prepared to advance the technology. Public-Private Collaboration A Japanese public-private collaboration will reportedly try to beam solar power from space as early as 2025, according to Nikkei. The initiative will seek to launch a number of tiny satellites into orbit. It is being led by Kyoto University professor Naoki Shinohara, who has been researching space-based solar energy since 2009. Then they’ll try to direct solar energy toward the arrays. Use Orbiting Solar Cells It was first proposed in 1968 to use orbiting solar cells and microwaves to transmit energy to Earth. Since then, ...