No. First, our solar power tech is not that refined. Look at the size of the panels needed for ISS. However, even assuming we developed more efficient solar cells - heck, you can make the things as big as you want - you still face the problem that the further you go, the more quickly the energy source is reduced. It’s an inverse square law, just like gravity. The energy density spreads out the further from the source it gets, so there is much less energy being picked up by your solar cells at the orbit of Pluto than at Earth’s orbit.
Regarding spin-offs, it is true that Teflon, Velcro, and Tang were not invented by the space program. However, I don’t judge a debate on the Senate floor an appropriate place to evaluate the contributions of the space program to terrestrial science applications. While the specifics of “synthetic pig teats” and “portable ice rinks” probably involved much ground development work, the idea of a spin-off is not that the item jumped whole onto the shelves, but that the research gleaned from space applications was then applied to the terrestrial needs. The needs of the space program led to discoveries/inventions that were then used as the starting point for an Earth application. One spin-off directly from space suit development is protection suits for children with light sensitivity - porphyria. These children get severely burned by exposure to regular sunlight. NASA space suit engineers worked with industry to develop protective suits so they can go outside. Another application is using the cooling technology (i.e. water-cooled undergarments) for multiple sclerosis patients who overheat. These two projects were not passing out NASA space suits, but the idea behind their conception came from solutions to space problems. I think Cecil discounts the role spin-offs play without looking at the true way they produce their value.
Related to Irishman*'s post: Several years ago my wife developed an infection for which the easiest treatment was an oral penicillin-related antibiotic. My wife is allergic to penicillin, and the next-best treatment could only be administered in IV form, twice a day for 7-10 days. Normally this would have meant either having her stay in a hospital or having to have the equipment set up in our house and having a nurse come in twice a day; either way, she would not have been able to work. Instead, they sent a nurse to the house to install a shunt on her arm and we were given a supply of the medication in plastic containers the size and shape of tennis balls. These could be plugged into the shunt and over the course of an hour the medicine would be delivered into her bloodstream. During this time she did not need to be tethered to an IV; in fact, we were given a fanny-pack carrier for the “medicine ball” which allowed her to walk around while using it. She was actually able to take her supplies to work and with the assistance of the nurse there take her medicine during her lunch break. We were told that this had been developed because of the space program’s interest in a providing IV-type medication in a zero-g environment.
It would be fine by me if robotic probes are developed which can deal with contingencies on their own…
they might need to have millions (billions?) of man-hours worth of programming in their repertoire, but if they survive and thrive, that is good enough for me… one day perhaps they will invite us up there as equals, or (perhaps) as their pets.