Solar belt around the moon planned by Japanese engineers

[muriel_volestrangler]

143. Sending enough solar panels for a smelter is still quite a weight

Perhaps they can be very thin, due to lower gravity (assuming they can be packed well enough to survive lift-off from Earth). Chemical processing in a vacuum (unless you provide the atmosphere), and in low gravity, just adds to the novelty of the situation.

I looked up the use of a thermoelectric generator by the Soviets; it was to keep the basic systems of their rover going in hibernation during the 14 day lunar night, while they used solar to power it during the day when it did the actual exploration. Any moon base has to solve a similar problem - a lot of battery storage, a transmission system from somewhere else (microwave satellites at Langrange points to a solar array on the far side?), or something similar. This grand scheme of a belt of solar panels would include transmission lines around the moon, I presume, but those could only be made and laid way into the project.