A company hoping to launch the first solar farm into space has achieved a major milestone with a prototype on Earth.

Oxfordshire-based Space Solar, which plans to power more than a million homes by the 2030s, will install mile-wide mirrors and solar panels in orbit 22,000 miles above the Earth.

But its ultra-efficient design for collecting continuous sunlight, called CASSIOPeiA, requires the system to rotate toward the sun regardless of its position while still sending power to fixed receivers on the ground.

Now, this method has been shown to work for the first time at Queen’s University Belfast, with wireless beams successfully ‘guided’ through a laboratory to turn on lights.

The company’s founder, Martin Soltau, told Sky News in an exclusive interview: “It’s a world first. You get constant energy all the time.

“This is really going to have a significant impact on our future energy system.”

Solar panels capture 13 times more energy space Compared to the ground, because the light intensity is higher and there is no atmosphere, clouds or night.

Although some energy is lost when it is transmitted back to Earth and connected to the grid, it is still far more than solar power generated on the ground.

But it’s around-the-clock power production that makes space solar so attractive for providing “baseload” to support terrestrial renewables.

Currently, nuclear power and gas turbines provide base load to the grid but produce radioactive waste or carbon dioxide respectively.

“That’s why the government is so excited about the prospect of space-based solar power,” Mr. Soltau said.

“Not only is it very powerful, it helps make the entire energy system work more efficiently.

“But the cost (of electricity) is about a quarter of the cost of nuclear power.”

More from Sky News:
The moon has its own time zone
Why the upcoming total solar eclipse is unique

Until recently, any idea of ​​building a 2,000-ton solar power plant in space was considered science fiction.

But Mr Sorto revealed the company was working with space exploration technologies corp. About using starships, The most powerful rocket ever.

It will take an estimated 68 launches to carry a set of parts, which will then be assembled by robots into an orbiting power station.

The rocket is also expected to significantly reduce the cost of getting anything into orbit, to just 1% of what it was 20 years ago.

“This is a complete game changer,” Mr. Soltau said. “We will be able to do things in space that were simply not possible ten years ago.”

One potential challenge is convincing the public that microwave beams that bring electricity back to Earth are harmless.

Mr Soltau said it would have only a quarter of the energy of the equatorial noon sun and would be “locked” to a receiving station.

“Safety is at the core of this design,” he said.

“These receiving antennas will be located away from any populated areas, most likely at sea.

“We need to demonstrate (safety) and get the public with us, but we have a very clear line to do that.”

Dr Jovana Radulovic, an independent energy expert at the University of Portsmouth, said advocates of space-based solar power also needed more evidence to back up claims of a low carbon footprint, even with multiple rocket launches.

“The carbon emissions are equivalent to the carbon emissions from renewable energy,” she said. “But this does not take into account the potential pollution effects of the upper atmosphere.

“I think if we understand this more clearly and we can actually prove that space-based solar is cleaner than some of the current alternatives, that will definitely make it more popular.”