Thursday, 22 June 2023

I Can't Think Of Everything!

Blimey, my idea of plastering the Moon with Solar Panels and firing the electricity generated back to Earth got complicated quickly because it turns out that the optimum heat for a solar panel is between 15°C (59°F) and 35°C (95°F) with the equator of the moon ranging from a sweaty 120°C (248°F) during the day to a chilly -130°C (-208°F) at night which leaves very little time for the slim range for the optimum heat.
Obviously the Space boffins will have special Solar Panels and not the bog standard ones we have on our roofs but i wasn't aware that there was an optimum range and outside of that the panels themselves grow less efficient.                                                             Solar Energy UK say that performance falls by 0.34 percentage points for every degree that the temperature rises above 25C although they also say that during Summer this is mitigated by the longer days so it's still in the positive column.                                             Solar power contributes 9.2% to the UK's electricity output and the electricity is stored in giant batteries or capacitors where the electricity is converted into another form and turned it back into electricity when you need it.                                                            Battery storage and Capacitors are the go to options but i'd be buggered if i understood any of it so Solar Panels on the Moon are still a thing and anyway, i'm the ideas person, actually making it work is for the big brains in the white lab coats to work out. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wind? On the Moon? Nothing remotely sarcastic I can add to that.