At one of our meetings Bill Beck one of our engineers gave a presentation on his tiles that he has invented for various uses aswell as our moon habitat. Bill says there are a number of ways that they can withstand high temperatures that are typically what will be needed on the moon. Bill is able to expand the uses of these tiles by changing the materials slightly during the manufacturing stage. The applications range from the covering material of the lunar base to solar panel backing.
Silica on the moon will be useful and Bill explains how solar panels are built and the doping to create semi-conductors. Bill says it is delicate work just like cooking a small fish. Most of the solar cells that we see on earth are photovoltaic cells. Many cells can be put together and are commonly called a module. Photovoltaics, as the word implies (photo = light) convert sunlight directly into (voltaic or volts = electricity) electricity. Photovoltaics are used more and more in less fancy ways. They could even power your our moon habitat.
Photovoltaic (PV) cells are made of materials called semiconductors such as silicon with a little two kinds of conductive materials added. This is currently the most commonly used PV cells. Basically, when light strikes the cell, a certain portion of it is absorbed within the semiconductor material. This means that the sunlight rays are absorbed and transferred to the semiconductor. The energy shakes loose electrons, allowing them to flow freely with no direction. PV cells have one or more electric field like properties that act to push the electrons freed by light absorption to flow in a particular direction. This flow of electrons is known as current, and by placing metal connectors on the top and bottom of the PV cell, we can draw that current off for our own use. This current, together with the cell's have voltage the current and thus wattage as (Volts X amps or current = Watts). Watts are what we need to run electrical equipment but Bill wants to combine the heat generation of liquid aswell. Bill is onto something big that will move power toward being a minor obstacle on the moon.
Something big is what Bill knows best and as we look at the moon Bill sees how he can build a panel that will make power on the lunar surface a problem on the past. Solar panels with copper tube our synthetic moon dust made by our group and Bill’s secret recipe makes up the solar panels. Copper
Tube-circulating a liquid though the panel allows the liquid to get longer exposure to the heat from the sun. The moon is made of a large portion of silica and is a prime ingredient to building solar panels. Bill mixes the moon dust that we have made on earth at our meetings to his recipe to pour into a mold. These panels are going to be great to do calculations so we will know how many we need to make it all come together.
Thus as Bill says, there are a number of ways that silica can be made to withstand high temperatures that are typically what will be needed on the moon but Bill is able to expand the uses of these tiles. The applications range from the covering material of the lunar base to solar panel for the generation of heat and electricity.
