[jimbob]

It depends on what Version you play... in the more recent Versions you need to build a base of some sort and place a solar panel on it (300 kT if memory serves). This of course is a huge component, and will not fit on ships until you've got some really large ships.

Then you need to fleet your ships with this base so that they will share the supplies with one another.

Alternatively, you can persue the stellar manipulation research field and get lots of smaller components. But that'll take some time, and refueling in the early game is dependent upon the presence of those bases.