We see the sun's rays reflecting off the moon on a nightly basis, but what if we could harness that solar power using its lunar surface materials to power a future moon base?
A recent study explores the concept of utilizing lunar regolith — the thin layer of dust and particles on its surface — to fabricate glass that could be used for solar panels, as summarized by Popular Science.
This could power a moon base where researchers work on potential Earth conservation projects, while cultivating sustainable fungal-based structures for habitats — a practical solution given the scarcity of resources.
With the high cost of shipping raw materials to the moon, it's beneficial to use whatever materials we can find on its surface. This study proposes that by manufacturing "moonglass" from found materials, we can save 99% of material transport weight and save enough money to make it practical.
That glass would be used as shielding for perovskite-based solar panels that would be shipped up to the lunar surface. Panels made from this class of materials have the benefit of being thin, lightweight, high-efficiency, and radiation-resistant, which is helpful given that the lunar surface receives about 200 times more radiation than the Earth's surface, as Popsci explained.
"Perovskites … tolerate very high amounts of radiation without damage. We refer to them as radiation tolerant, as their soft lattice allows not only to tolerate radiation damage, but [to] actually self-heal afterwards," said Felix Lang, a study co-author, per Popsci.
The researchers fabricated glass from a sample that simulates regolith found in the moon's highland regions. The material, named TUBS-T, has a makeup that's ideally suited for radiation resistant moonglass.
It contains iron (II) oxide, which prevents the darkening effect that radiation typically has on normal glass.
In order to fabricate glass on the moon, they plan to use a solar furnace that utilizes mirrors to concentrate sunlight into a highly focused beam for heating and melting the regolith. Those mirrors need to be factored into the feasibility of the project, since they'd need to come from Earth.
"At this stage, we are however not sure how heavy the equipment will need to be, as it will also depend on many factors, for example production capacity," Lang explained.
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Definitely 💯 The study did explore various scenarios to validate the potential cost effectiveness of manufacturing components on the moon as opposed to launching everything from the Earth's surface.
There's a sweet spot somewhere between 3 and 10 megawatts of photovoltaic generation, as Popsci noted, where the project becomes more financially feasible.
Back on Earth, we wouldn't see any immediate benefit from this project, but many life-changing technologies have been born out of NASA's research. Innovative materials that improve solar panel resilience could eventually help us improve clean energy projects on the planet.
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