A hypothetical Dyson sphere around the Sun that would collect the star’s energy for human needs could one day become a reality. Today, such a project seems fantastic. But there is no such thing as too much energy — the Earth’s civilization has already learned this lesson and will seek access to new sources. So why not evaluate this project from the standpoint of scientists and engineers today? Everything you need for this can be found in textbooks.
An artist’s rendering of a partial Dyson sphere. Image credit: Archibald Tuttle
The study of the possibility of creating a solid or partial Dyson sphere was conducted by Ian Marius Peters from the Helmholtz Institute for Renewable Energy in Erlangen-Nuremberg (Forschungszentrum Jülich). His work was published in the journal Science Direct. As the scientist explained, he did not find any publications devoted to the creation of a Dyson sphere from photovoltaic panels, although this is the most obvious solution for capturing solar energy today.
The idea of an energy trap for collecting the energy of a star was developed by physicist Freeman Dyson. According to him, he got it from Olaf Stapledon’s The Star Maker (1937). However, similar ideas had been put forward much earlier by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, which Dyson probably did not know. In any case, he developed the ideas of his predecessors into a relatively complete concept. Scientist Jan Marius Pieters went further – he estimated the impact of such a megastructure on life on Earth, and also calculated how much material would be needed to build it.
Mathematical calculations showed that a Dyson sphere of small diameter – inside the orbit of the Earth – would be impractical. First, it would overheat, which would reduce the efficiency of photoelectric conversion. Second, it would block the light reaching the Earth, which would lead to the death of organisms and civilization.
Larger Dyson spheres would cool better and would generally provide solar energy capture efficiency of 25%. However, a solid sphere would increase the temperature of our planet by 140 K, which would also kill life on Earth.
Image source: Science Direct 2025
A compromise solution would be to create a partial structure (Dyson swarm) with 22% coverage at 2.13 AU from the Sun. This would yield 4% of the Sun’s energy (15.6 yottawatts) while increasing Earth’s temperature by less than 3 K, comparable to current global warming trends. This would require 1.3 x 10²³ kg of silicon, a colossal amount, but not beyond the solar system’s material supply.
A Dyson swarm would be easier to create than a solid sphere. In principle, such a project could be implemented today. The grouping could be built up gradually, as the swarm components were manufactured. In that case, the idea no longer seems fantastic. However, its time has not yet come.