Beijing: China is taking its renewable energy push to new heights, with scientists revealing plans to build the first solar power station in space.

A solar power station orbiting the earth at 36,000 kilometres could tap the energy of the sun's rays without interference from the atmosphere, or seasonal and night-time loss of sunlight, Chinese media reported.

The sun photographed by NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. Credit:AP

Construction of an early experimental space power plant has begun in the inland city of Chongqing, China's Science and Technology Daily reported on its front page.

A researcher from the China Academy of Space Technology Corporation, Pang Zhihao, said a space solar power station held the promise of providing "an inexhaustible source of clean energy for humans".