Silicon PV cell production on the Moon as the basis for a new architecture for space exploration

Details Silicon PV cell production on the Moon as the basis for a new architecture for space exploration Silicon PV cell production on the Moon as the basis for a new architecture for space exploration

Feb 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001aipc..552...19d&link_type=abstract

Space Technology and Applications International Forum - 2001. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 552, pp. 19-24 (2001).

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Features, Landmarks, Mineralogy, And Petrology, Gravitational Field, Selenodesy, And Magnetic Fields, Spaceborne And Space Research Instruments, Apparatus, And Components

Scientific paper

A method is described by which silicon photovoltaic (PV) devices can be directly deposited onto the lunar regolith using primarily lunar materials. In sequence, a robotic ``crawler'' moving at slow speed sequentially melts the top layer of regolith and deposits a conducting layer, a doped silicon, a top conducting grid, and an antireflective coating by vacuum evaporation techniques. Concentrated solar energy is utilized as the energy source. Development of this capability would significantly lower the cost of electrical energy on the Moon and would enable a range of other activities, including lower cost propellant production, human outposts with complete food-growth capabilities, and advanced materials production. Low cost energy could affect the economics of propellants in space by allowing the extraction of solar wind hydrogen from the lunar regolith. This would allow the economical export of propellants and other materials to space, first to an Earth-Moon Lagrangian Point and potentially to low Earth orbit. .

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