I am writing from an off-grid shack in rural CO where I have installed a fairly nice panel, storage, and inverter system (4kw panels, 15kwh batteries, 6kw inverter).
I'm about $10k into that project (though I did all the labor, and didn't count that), but the easement and company equipment would have been $25k-$35k... much more effecient from a money perspective to go with solar out here in the sticks.
I am sure that in places like space, where there are no gas stations (or much solid matter at all), solar is going to be an easier deal than petrochemicals.
Last winter (my first) was cold, but I still hadn't built the little solar setup and was living in a 9x9 shack with a diesel heater.
By the end of the winter I had renovated a 24x24 room into my music studio, which is mostly heated with firewood that I collect as part of my wildfire mitigation or (kind of expensive) an externally vented propane all heater.
By the end of the winter it was much easier to stay warm. Hopefully I'll have a septic, cistern, and tiny house setup by the time it geet cold again.
The solar equipment was super easy to install and I think it will be cheaper than grid power in the 10-year time frame.
Solar flux above the atmosphere is around 1300 watts per square meter. At the ground in say Las Vegas it's around 1000 watts. Cloud cover or similar can cut that in half or worse.
Sinking heat is an issue in space. The thermal radiator panels on the ISS are bigger than the solar panels.
I never understood why heat exchange is so hard in space. I suppose it’s hard to keep things in orbit while also keeping hot and cold sides stationary?
