December 17th, 2015, saw the resurrection of a gigantic franchise. Millions of geeks, nerds, and cosplayers in herds stampeded towards their nearest movie theater to catch Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In accordance with all its hype, the reviews were fantastic. Not only did the critics love all of the action-packed, powerful scenes, but I personally gave it a 9 out of 10 on my prestigious–totally not made up–rating scale.

But there was one scene in particular that struck me as a little more intriguing than the rest:  about halfway through the movie, the Starkiller Base–basically the third Death Star on steroids–absorbed vast amounts of solar energy from a nearby star to power its weapon. With a span of just two movie minutes, the weapon was able to fire a beam of energy across entire systems to destroy several planets in a massive explosion.

And it got me thinking, could we do that? No, not destroy a planet…our next president will probably do that. Rather, could we use our own sun in a similar way to power our energy needs?

AVHS physics teacher Travis Laurent says, “Yes! The sun generates its energy through the process of nuclear fusion. Hydrogen atoms are pulled together through the strong gravitational force of the sun. When these hydrogen atoms fuse (combine), they give off massive amounts of energy.”

And although we can’t simply siphon the sun’s energy like a vacuum as portrayed in Star Wars, we can utilize the power of photovoltaic cells–more commonly known as solar panels.

Photo Courtesy of AP Images

Solar panels work by converting photons of light into electrons at an atomic level. As these electrons get released, they are then captured, creating an electric current that can be used as electricity. This process allows for an unlimited resource of energy whose value is widely praised. As Bill Alpert, journalist for Barron’s, puts it, “Solar energy is too crucial a resource for our overheated planet to neglect.”

The basis of today’s photovoltaic technology was introduced by none other than Albert Einstein in 1905. And we have definitely been making use of it. According to the United States Department of Energy (DOE), installations of solar panels have grown to a whopping 20 gigawatts. That’s enough energy to power 4 million average American homes, or to meet the combined electricity demands of Austin, Texas, and Seattle, Washington, for a year!

The DOE goes on to state that “solar jobs have increased about 22% since November 2013, which is ten times the national average growth rate.” So maybe those workers aboard Starkiller Base weren’t all bad; they just wanted job security.

This will be important in the coming decades, as jobs in oil and coal mining decrease as the world’s supply runs out. Realistically, however, our nation can’t do a simple 180 and switch to alternative energy methods. As Laurent explains, “We can’t just stop using coal and oil. We need to make a gradual transition.”

He agrees with President Barack Obama’s All-of-the-Above Energy Strategy, a method of utilizing all forms of energy production–including solar energy–in an effort to maintain our nation’s energy demands, while simultaneously lowering our production of carbon dioxide and methane.

Strides for this process are currently being made, as the House and Senate recently agreed to extend the 30 percent investment tax credit for solar energy. According to Julia Hamm, president and CEO of the Solar Electric Power Association, this extension “will allow for broader participation and deployment of solar applications across the country.”

So maybe we can take a lesson from the First Order’s use of energy. Although they lived a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, their technology might be our future. And while you may argue that they’re evil, there’s no denying that they know how to use the LIGHT side of energy.