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Page added on November 29, 2013
Japanese firm plans 250 mile-wide solar panel belt around Moon
A Japanese firm announces its innovative solution to the nation’s energy problems – a 250 mile-wide belt of solar panels on the moon
Tokyo-based Shimizu Corp. wants to lay a belt of solar panels 250 miles wide around the equator of the moon
A Japanese construction firm is proposing to solve the well-documented energy problems facing Japan – and ultimately the entire planet – by turning the moon into a colossal solar power plant.
Tokyo-based Shimizu Corp. wants to lay a belt of solar panels 250 miles wide around the equator of our orbiting neighbour and then relay the constant supply of energy to “receiving stations” on Earth by way of lasers or microwave transmission.
The “Luna Ring” that is being proposed would be capable of sending 13,000 terawatts of power to Earth. Throughout the whole of 2011, it points out, the United States only generated 4,100 terawatts of power.
“A shift from economical use of limited resources to the unlimited use of clean energy is the ultimate dream of mankind,” Shimizu says in the proposal on its web site. “The Luna Ring … translates this dream into reality through ingenious ideas coupled with advanced space technologies.”
Until March 2011, and the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan had relied heavily on nuclear power.
Public opposition to atomic energy has hardened in the intervening years, as the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. struggle to bring the stricken plant’s reactors under control.
There is a general acceptance that Japan, which shut down its last functioning nuclear reactor in September, will need to restart its nuclear plants in the short term, but the disaster has focused new attention on alternative – and safer – forms of energy.
Shimizu first came up with its Luna Ring proposal before the accident at Fukushima, but the ongoing crisis means it is attracting renewed interest.
Shimizu is reluctant to put a price tag on the construction costs involved but, given adequate funding, the company believes construction work could get under way as early as 2035.
Robots and automated equipment would be developed to mine the moon’s natural resources and produce concrete and the solar cells required for the scheme.
Once completed, the belt would stretch 6,800 miles around the equator and ensure constant exposure to the sun – without the interference of cloud cover – and an equally constant transfer of energy to the Earth.
Shimizu believes that “virtually inexhaustible, non-polluting solar energy is the ultimate source of green energy”.
21 Comments on "Japanese firm plans 250 mile-wide solar panel belt around Moon"
BillT on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 1:18 am
Wow! This guy is a techie dreamer on steroids! LMAO
Newfie on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 1:24 am
“Shimizu is reluctant to put a price tag on the construction costs involved but, given adequate funding…”
Given adequate funding, my company will build a tower to the Moon to transport personnel and material for this construction project.
Stilgar on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 1:35 am
Newfie, you beat me to the best quote. This project would be 250 miles wide by 6800 miles long?! What about the fact the surface is not flat all the way around. Do they just start heading down into craters as they lay all these panels? How many years will this take? About a 100? How much will it cost? 10 trillion dollars? Japan would be better off putting solar panels on connected barges and hope a tsunami or cyclone doesn’t destroy them.
KingM on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 2:33 am
Yeah, right.
Keith_McClary on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 3:21 am
Newfie wrote:
“Given adequate funding, my company will build a tower to the Moon to transport personnel and material for this construction project.”
Stilgar wrote:
“Newfie, you beat me to the best quote. This project would be 250 miles wide by 6800 miles long?! What about the fact the surface is not flat all the way around. Do they just start heading down into craters as they lay all these panels?”
Here’s a hint how thay would solve these problems:
http://www.shimz.co.jp/english/theme/bridges/images/index_ph001.jpg
:^)
DC on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 3:39 am
LoL
Norm on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 4:19 am
Give me the adequate funding, once its all spent, I will tell you how its going. If you can find me. What about large corporations. They could write their logo on the moon with solar panel placements. Wal-mart, coca cola, Chevy. Eternal advertising.
mike on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 9:17 am
And not soon after that we’ll have solar beaming back to us from mars and all the other planets too. Perhaps even a solar shield around the sun to give us energy and then an earth orbiting fabricated sun that delivers electricity and light all day. Technology will win the day.
gordianus on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 9:27 am
That’s small scale. Think big:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere
Arthur on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 9:40 am
Out of the top of my head, it costs ca. 25,000$ to bring one kg into earth’s orbit and a multiple of that amount to bring it in the moon’s orbit. I wonder if the memory of the computers of the Fed is big enough to print that serious kind of money to fund this project.
I did some back of an envelope calculations in the past, with depressing results:
http://deepresource.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/solar-energy-from-space/
adamc18 on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 9:47 am
Why put solar panels on a moon that only appears when it’s dark? (heh! heh!)
J-Gav on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 10:00 am
A Loony Belt? Well, if we’re gonna gussy it up, why not go whole hog and throw in a couple of 1000-mile-long ear-rings too!
mo on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 12:33 pm
Sounds more like a ( loony ring )to me
mo on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 12:42 pm
Wouldn’t it be cheaper just to orbit them around the earth. I think Issac Asimov or Arthur Clark came up with that idea back in the 60s
Beery on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 1:43 pm
It would probably be cheaper to install a bunch of massive mirrors orbiting Earth that were positioned to reflect the sun’s rays in such a way as to make the populated parts of the Earth retain room temperature year-round.
george on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 2:46 pm
i just choked on a turkey sammitch from lmao
rollin on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 5:28 pm
THIS IS SHEER LUNACY!!!
(couldn’t resist)
Stilgar on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 7:52 pm
Keith-McClary wrote in response to my question of how they would lay panels since the surface of the Moon is not flat, i.e. has huge craters: “Here’s a hint how thay would solve these problems”, and provided a link showing bridges.
Oh that won’t add much to the tab. LOL! You do realize some of those craters are thousands of feet deep, right?
Stilgar on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 8:05 pm
Something else to consider is the Moon has no atmosphere, so meteors no matter how small do not disintegrate as they accelerate toward the surface. How do they protect the panels?
Terry McNamie on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 8:57 pm
Such a bunch of debbie downers. We built bridges over rivers, why not to the moon! whatever we can think of we can achieve as a species, we are special!
SilentRunning on Fri, 29th Nov 2013 9:27 pm
It would be better to install the panels at L4/L5. On the moon, only 1/2 would be illuminated, plus the rest would only be generating 1/2 the peak output because of slope issues.
So you could position 1/8th the number of panels at L4, 1/8th the number at L5 AND have better coverage on earth because you would be providing energy from 2 different spots in the sky rather than just 1.
However, this does nothing to address how you go about beaming TeraWatts of energy from space to earth without enormous inefficiency AND environmental damage.
Rather than spend quadrillions we dont have on such a science (fiction) project, a few billion spent BIRTH CONTROL and SEX/ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION to lower the population to less than 1 billion people would be vastly cheaper and ultimately do-able.