An Energy-Rich Environment for the Moon by Solar Cell Fabrication on the Moon
- Paper number
IAC-05-A5.1.08
- Author
Dr. Alex Ignatiev, University of Houston, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Alexandre Freundlich, University of Houston, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Adenet Alemu, University of Houston, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Laurent Sibille, BAE SYSTEMS Analytical Solutions, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Peter Curreri, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Marshall Space Flight Center, United States
- Year
2005
- Abstract
The long-term potential for humans to settle space requires self-sufficiency, and therefore, self-sustaining electrical power systems. This can be attained on the Moon by utilizing the indigenous resources present there through the fabrication of thin film solar cells using the vacuum environment of the Moon. Thin film solar cells can be fabricated directly on the surface of the Moon through the deployment of a ~200kg crawler with the capabilities of preparation of the lunar regolith for use as a substrate, evaporation of the appropriate semiconductor material for the solar cell structure, and deposition of metallic contacts and interconnects. This will allow for the emplacement of a lunar electric power system that can reach 1 MW in several years of crawler operation. Initial growth of the thin film solar cell will proceed with raw materials brought from Earth. With an initial installation of ~100 kW capacity (6 months of operation) a regolith processing facility can then be emplaced on the Moon which will extract the needed raw materials from lunar regolith so as to feed the solar cell crawler for the fabrication of silicon solar cells by using the electrical power generated by the initial cell fabrication.
- Abstract document