From Regolith To Energy: How Could Moon Dust Power Lunar Cities?

ESA and Space Applications Services, a German company, have successfully experimented with creating solar cells from simulated Moon dust. This avoids transporting them from Earth to power future space missions.

Moon Dust Transformed: Solar Cells To Power Lunar Missions

A research team led by Felix Lang from the University of Potsdam in Germany has demonstrated how simulated lunar regolith can be melted into glass and used to create a new type of solar cell that can be fabricated directly on the lunar surface. The research was published on 3 April in the scientific journal Device.

The project uses Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) to 3D print solar cells directly from regolith, the powdery soil that covers the Moon’s surface.

The printed solar cells are durable, efficient and designed to withstand the Moon’s harsh conditions, including extreme temperatures and radiation.

This technology will ensure that future lunar bases, science stations, and mining operations will operate longer and more sustainably, allowing them to generate energy using in-situ resources (ISRU).

At the same time, the cost of lunar missions would drop significantly because heavy energy systems would no longer need to be sent from Earth.

“If you reduce the weight by 99%, you don’t need super-efficient 30% solar cells, you just make more of them on the Moon,” Lang explains. This innovative method could reduce the spacecraft’s launch mass by 99.4% and cut transportation costs by 99%, making a long-term stay on the Moon more feasible.

Lunar Regolith: Energy Underfoot

“The solar cells used in space now are amazing, reaching efficiencies of 30% to 40%, but this efficiency comes at a price,” Lang explains. “They are costly and relatively heavy because they use glass or thick foil as shelter. It’s hard to justify lifting all these cells into space.”

The scientists propose melting lunar regolith into “lunar glass” using solar furnaces. When exposed to cosmic radiation, lunar glass solar cells outperformed their traditional terrestrial counterparts.

This is because standard glass tends to brown in space, reducing its efficiency, while lunar glass, with its natural brown hue, remains stable and more resistant to radiation.

Moon Glass: There’s No Alchemy!

Lang’s group melted some simulated regolith to form “lunar glass.” This simple process requires no complicated cleanup and can be achieved simply by focusing sunlight falling on the Moon to reach high temperatures. Because the Moon receives an intense solar flux of about 1400 W/m² and has no atmosphere to block light, this process is more efficient than on Earth.

“Made on the Moon” Solar Cells: Exciting Features

The resulting lunar glass serves two purposes: it is a protective layer for solar cells and replaces heavy glass substrates from Earth.

In tests, the team created solar cells from lunar glass, with efficiencies as high as 10%, which could reach 23% if more transparent glass is used. Even at current levels, the energy output is astonishing – per gram of material supplied from Earth, these cells produce 100 times more energy than today’s standard space-based solar cells.

Perovskite solar cells can be powerful but surprisingly thin – only 500 to 800 nanometers.

For example, 400 square meters of “lunar glass” solar cells are needed to power a lunar base with several hundred settlers. 

Only 1 kilogram of perovskite material from Earth is enough to produce many Moon cells. Such efficiency is astounding.

What’s Next?

Despite the impressive results of creating solar cells from simulated Moon dust on Earth, many questions remain unanswered.

For example, space vacuum conditions make it challenging to use some solvents, and lunar temperature fluctuations – from +120°C to -130°C – may test the limits of perovskite stability.

In addition, the shape of the glass produced could be significantly affected by the Moon’s gravity, which is only one-sixth of Earth’s.

The team hopes to send a small test mission to the Moon to prove that these solar cells can be manufactured and operate under actual lunar conditions.

This technology could be key to future lunar settlements, providing the energy needed for habitation, water extraction and other critical operations. This is essential to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon and possibly Mars.