I just read the sequel to "Space Station Rat" called "Rat Trap" by Michael J. Daley. I really enjoyed these books with great sci-fi and interesting concepts and characters. It is written in simple sentences and limited vocabulary and stars a grade-school kid (and a rat) so it is aimed at younger audiences but I think anybody could enjoy the books. The reason for posting about these books is that the parents of the kid in the book are on this space station to study the sun because they have a theory that the sun is about to go into a lower solar output phase that could cause the earth to cool drastically (and tests on the sunspot activity during "solar maximum" of the sun could confirm their theory). In the book, Earth scientists are planning to implement climate changes to mitigate global warming but if they do succeed at cooling the planet and then the solar output drops, the earth will go into an ice age.
edit: I just checked out the author's website and was pleasantly surprised that his earlier books included a few on converting to solar power... this guy is already worth mentioning here without his new book series!
http://michaeljdaley.com/