> The sailcraft transmits 100 Watts, deriving its power from a 700-Watt hydrogen beam that is normally incident on the sailcraft when it faces Earth. This hydrogen beam is simply a manifestation of the interstellar medium, incident on the sailcraft at 0.2 c.
From https://arxiv.org/pdf/1805.01306.pdf
> One way to tap the sailcraft’s kinetic energy could be via the interstellar medium: The Local Interstellar Cloud is primarily composed of 0.3 atoms/cm3 of partially ionized hydrogen. From the sailcraft’s perspective traveling at cruise velocity, this manifests as a monochromatic hydrogen beam that is incident from the direction of travel, having a combined kinetic energy of 55W m−2, or 0.7 kW over the sail’s area if it faces the direction of travel.
The report for Starlight suggests a RTG:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/roadmap...
Actually it would vaporize any part of the system needed to control or communicate.