Caltech scientists confirm solar energy can be harvested from space: Six months after the launch of the Space Solar Power Demonstrator, scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) confirmed that a prototype solar power satellite can collect the sun's energy and transmit it to Earth, according to Caltech’s website. Wireless power transfer was displayed by MAPLE, one of three key technologies being tested by the demonstrator. “We received confirmation that MAPLE can transmit power successfully to receivers in space,” project leader Ali Hajimiri said, adding “we have also been able to program the array to direct its energy toward Earth, which we detected here at Caltech.”

Why go all the way to space? Sunlight is about 10 times more intense at the top of Earth's atmosphere than at the surface, according to the European Space Agency. Additionally, the transmitters would be able to transfer energy to stations across the planet whenever needed meaning energy “can be sent to remote regions and areas devastated by war or natural disaster,” Hajimiri said, adding that the wireless energy transfer could democratize energy, similar to how the “internet democratized access to information.”