Japanese firm proposes LUNA RING to send solar energy from moon to Earth

(Phys.org) —Japanese construction firm Shimizu Corp. has unveiled a proposal that entails building a solar panel array around the moon's equator, then sending the power it collects back to Earth. They are calling the project LUNA RING.Since the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan back in March 2011 (which led to closing the country's nuclear power plants) scientists there (and elsewhere) have been scrambling to find ways to create electricity for the country in other ways. In this latest proposal, a private company is reaching, quite literally, for the sky.The idea, company reps say, is to lay down a band of concrete (which can be made from moon soil) 250 miles wide all the way around the moon's equator (a distance of approximately 6,800 miles), using robots directed by humans back here on Earth.Next the concrete would be covered with solar panels, which would be connected via cables to microwave and laser transmission stations. The energy beams sent from the moon would be directed at receiving stations on Earth, allowing for a round-the-clock source of energy as there are no clouds or other bad weather on the moon. Shimizu claims that such a system would be capable of sending 13,000 terawatts of power back to Earth and that construction could begin on the project as early as 2035.

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