Solar-energy generating spine structure could house power plants on the moon

Why build solar power stations down here on earth, when we could get a little closer to the sun, on the moon probably, and generate a lot more energy! Bryna Anderson, graduate from Columbia University came up with this design for the 2010 Moon Capital International Design Challenge. The system simply gathers the energy using photovoltaic panels placed on the moon which is then beamed back to earth using microwaves. However unlike the usual photovoltaic arrays we see these days, flat and laid out, this one’s shaped up with a spine like structure. The spiny structure houses the plant, the cells, and place for the workers too. Of course it isn’t going to be a walk through a park or a piece of cake to build this one. A structure like this would need the help of robotic intervention.

We sure hope the moon, in future, has a bunch of these spines sticking out from its otherwise smooth cheese-like surface, beaming back solar energy for our disposal.



[Dvice]