For nearly 7000 hours per year, Europe’s hundreds of millions of solar panels face a sunless sky. In the race to replace fossil fuels with sustainable alternatives, the European Space Agency (ESA) is heading a bold approach to provide permanent power by putting solar panels in space.

Max Hersov spoke to the Lead for the SOLARIS initiative on Space-based Solar Power and Mars Exploration Strategy Team Leader at ESA, Dr Sanjay Vijendran, who described ESA’s plan for a revolutionary new source of clean, affordable, continuous, abundant and secure energy.