Solar panels for the lunar base

Leulaye Maskal; Christian Singleton; Ahmed Aboudiwan; Ali Taha; Malgorzata Marciniak

doi:10.1117/12.2543899

3 March 2020 Solar panels for the lunar base

Leulaye Maskal, Christian Singleton, Ahmed Aboudiwan, Ali Taha, Malgorzata Marciniak

Proceedings Volume 11275, Physics, Simulation, and Photonic Engineering of Photovoltaic Devices IX; 1127518 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2543899
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2020, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

The motivation behind this research lies in the well-spread news about USA and China’s plans to build bases on the moon within the next 10 years. In this research, we create a mathematical model of efficiency for geometrical solar panels, as well as discuss which locations on the moon may be suitable for placing a non-tracing solar power plant. We consider the North Pole, the Equator and additional locations; and analyze the accumulation of illumination over an 18.6-year period that represents the lunar cycle. The simulation for geometrical panels is based on the etendue, with the panel being the diaphragm and a selected segment of the sky being the source. However, the etendue needs to be modified due to the properties of solar energy. The selected segment of the sky is crafted with careful analysis of the motion of the moon. The difficulty of the model comes from the fact that the motion of the sun on the moon’s sky is subject to change in its speed and direction, which is created by the moon’s libration. In addition, we discuss the change of luminosity of the sun’s light due to the varied distance between the moon and the sun. The simulation was performed using MATLAB and Mathematica.

Citation Download Citation

Leulaye Maskal, Christian Singleton, Ahmed Aboudiwan, Ali Taha, and Malgorzata Marciniak "Solar panels for the lunar base", Proc. SPIE 11275, Physics, Simulation, and Photonic Engineering of Photovoltaic Devices IX, 1127518 (3 March 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2543899

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KEYWORDS

Sun

Solar cells

Spherical lenses

Commercial off the shelf technology

Light sources

Mathematical modeling

Shape analysis

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