Artemis Astronauts Could Rely on Solar Cells Made out of Moon Dust universetoday storybywill
As Kristmann told Universe Today via email, their research addresses a major need for future lunar missions: the ability to generate power in a way that is not dependent on Earth. This means focusing on renewable sources and relying on batteries of fuel cells only as a backup. As Kristmann explained:
Marit Kauk-Kuusik, the head of the photovoltaic materials lab at TalTech and co-author on the study, explained the benefits of the material in an article published by TalTech in“TalTech scientists have been working on monograin layer solar cell technology for terrestrial applications for a couple of decades already. The core innovation is the unique light absorbing layer made of the single-crystalline powder, which contains abundant and low-cost elements.
“The potassium salt acted as a medium for the creation of single crystalline grains of FeS2, and at the end of the reaction, the salt was removed by washing,” said Kristmann. “This process can easily be adjusted to the Moon environment, as it does not utilize any complicated equipment with difficult to obtain prerequisites such as high purity vacuum chambers or strong lasers or magnetic fields.
“The requirements of power systems to support lunar exploration depend on the volume of activities performed at the surface and the time of the missions. Several space agencies and private companies, at the international level, have indicated plans for long duration missions on the lunar surface.
As Dr. Makaya added, there’s also the benefit of enduring self-sufficiency where long-duration missions are concerned. In addition to food, water, and other basic necessities, the also relies on regular shipments of replacement parts and components. This includes replacement solar cells and the electronics and tools needed to keep them operational.
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