Uninterrupted photovoltaic power for lunar colonization without the need for storage

Jeffrey M. Gordon

Renewable Energy, 2022, vol. 187, issue C, 987-994

Abstract: Can uninterrupted photovoltaic power feasibly be realized without energy storage? Although on planet Earth the answer appears to be negative, we depict and evaluate how it can be achieved on the Moon with a strategy that exploits the combination of the absence of a lunar atmosphere and the near-zero tilt of the Moon's polar axis with respect to the ecliptic plane. This strategy may be of considerable value in the current revival of lunar colonization initiatives, where the envisioned level of uninterrupted electricity for the oxygen production plants that will constitute the principal energy consumer is of order ∼10 MW, with the flexibility of large distances between power production and power consumption. This approach is also shown to offer noticeably superior specific power (kW/kg) than the current proposed designs of either nuclear reactors or solar with battery storage.

Keywords: Photovoltaic; Moon; Earth; Transmission; Polar; Uninterrupted (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:187:y:2022:i:c:p:987-994

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.02.016

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