Luna Ring concept puts solar panels on the moon to power Earth

Dec 5, 2013
Luna Ring concept puts solar panels on the moon to power Earth

Solar energy is one method for powering homes and such with renewable resources, something that has seen great strides in past years but that still suffers from various limitations. One Japanese company has a big vision for the technology that would overcome some of these limitations, and it involves putting solar panels on the moon and beaming electricity at the Earth with lasers.

Called the Luna Ring, the concept is by company Shimizu and is "for the infinite coexistence of mankind and the Earth." The concept works by placing a "belt" of solar cells around the moon's equator, something said to have a lot of benefits, among them being an elimination of inefficiency caused by poor weather like cloudy days and the ability to generate power non-stop.

The energy created by the solar panels will then be transmitted and beamed to our blue marble from the part of the moon that is always facing the Earth, otherwise known as the near side of the moon. The energy would be received by energy conversion facilities located in various places around the globe, which you can see from the image above, with the energy being transmitted as both laser power and microwave power.

Materials both imported from the Earth and harvested from the lunar landscape would be used to construct the Luna Belt, among them being bricks, glass fibers, and, of course, the solar cells. Robots would be used to implement the construction, along with some team of astronauts where humans are needed. To give an idea of the size of the setup, the belt would be 11,000 kilometers long and in some areas 400 kilometers wide.

VIA: Treehugger
SOURCE: Shimizu

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