Japanese engineers plan to turn the moon into a giant solar panel station

Engineering firm plans to install a 6,800 mile 'solar belt' around the moon's equator

It sounds like a tale from a science fiction novel, but a team of Japanese engineers really is hoping to turn the moon into a giant solar panel.Shimizu, a giant civil engineering and construction firm, plans to install a 'solar belt' around the moon's equator. To be built almost entirely by remote-controlled robots, the Luna Ring would run around the 6,800 mile lunar equator and be 248 miles in width. The solar energy collected would converted and beamed back to earth as microwaves and laser, where it would then be converted into electricity and then potentially supplied to the national grid. Shimizu says the Luna Ring could generate a massive 13,000 terra watts of energy. The Sizewell B nuclear reactor in Suffolk produces 1,198 megawatts (MW). “Virtually inexhaustible, non-polluting solar energy is the ultimate source of green energy that brings prosperity to nature as well as our lives,” says Shimizu. The company plans to have a pilot demonstration by 2020 and for construction to begin by 2035. Read More: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/japanese-engineers-plan-to-turn-the-moon-into-a-giant-solar-panel-station-8969866.html

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