Lunar Solar Power – Intro

Music

Sunlight holds the possibility of an unlimited supply of energy available to us, but solar panels only operate when the sun is out and they have to be able to withstand the wear and tear of atmospheric conditions. What’s the alternative? Well a group of scientists is proposing that we get our solar power via the moon. I’m Jim Metzner.

“What we’re proposing is that the best place to capture sunlight and provide solar energy back to Earth is to go to the moon.”

David Criswell is the director of the Institute for Space Systems Operations at the University of Houston.

“The moon is out in free space. It sees the sun all the time. And so what you do, is send to the moon machines that make solar collectors out of material that’s on the moon. The solar collectors then take sunlight, convert it into electricity. The electricity is converted into beams of microwaves, and the microwaves are sent directly back to Earth, or they go through satellites in orbit around the Earth and go back to Earth. On the Earth, the microwaves are converted by large fields of antennas back into electricity and that electricity goes into the grid.”

Having solar power reach the earth in the form of microwaves means that the energy can be collected at virtually anytime.

“The advantages of this system are that the microwave beams can pass through any kind of atmospheric condition, so that you don’t have to worry about storms or clouds or fog, any of this. You can deliver electricity when it’s needed, where it’s needed. The advantage of being on the moon is that there’s no atmosphere, there’s no water, anything to destroy thin films that are necessary to collect solar energy and do that at low cost.”

We’ll hear more about lunar solar power in future programs. To hear about our new CD, please visit pulseplanet.com. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.

Lunar Solar Power - Intro

Solar power from the moon? Scientists are hoping to set up solar panels on the moon to collect energy which will be beamed to earth.

Air Date:01/02/2003

Scientist:

Transcript:

Lunar Solar Power - Intro

Music

Sunlight holds the possibility of an unlimited supply of energy available to us, but solar panels only operate when the sun is out and they have to be able to withstand the wear and tear of atmospheric conditions. What's the alternative? Well a group of scientists is proposing that we get our solar power via the moon. I'm Jim Metzner.

"What we're proposing is that the best place to capture sunlight and provide solar energy back to Earth is to go to the moon."

David Criswell is the director of the Institute for Space Systems Operations at the University of Houston.

"The moon is out in free space. It sees the sun all the time. And so what you do, is send to the moon machines that make solar collectors out of material that's on the moon. The solar collectors then take sunlight, convert it into electricity. The electricity is converted into beams of microwaves, and the microwaves are sent directly back to Earth, or they go through satellites in orbit around the Earth and go back to Earth. On the Earth, the microwaves are converted by large fields of antennas back into electricity and that electricity goes into the grid."

Having solar power reach the earth in the form of microwaves means that the energy can be collected at virtually anytime.

"The advantages of this system are that the microwave beams can pass through any kind of atmospheric condition, so that you don't have to worry about storms or clouds or fog, any of this. You can deliver electricity when it's needed, where it's needed. The advantage of being on the moon is that there's no atmosphere, there's no water, anything to destroy thin films that are necessary to collect solar energy and do that at low cost."

We'll hear more about lunar solar power in future programs. To hear about our new CD, please visit pulseplanet.com. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.