Government: Three years after India declared a big-bang solar alliance, solar power remains in the shade

An economy on steroids needs dollops of sunshine, the Chinese figured early, almost two decades ago. China has made big bets on solar energy, convinced it’s the future. And trust the Asian powerhouse to up its game and leap into a higher orbit. Literally. China now wants to launch solar-power stations in space to extract the sun’s energy before some of it scatters. No nation has gone there yet, deterred by the prohibitive costs involved. But