Why the moon? Because Its equator is a place that is constantly exposed to big quantities of sunlight , in a continuous steady matter, and without interruptions due to weather problems like It is the case on Earth.

“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.

According to a few, this could be indeed a long term solution on a big scale for the Earth’s ever-growing poupulation and energy needs. In fact, a few other agencies and research centers have been on the possibility of solar stations on the moon , agencies like NASA, xhich had a particular interest on the topic.

On this topic of a solar base in the moon, theories and innovative ideas have been numerous. We cite the idea of Lewis-Weber, who  published a paper in the journal New Space with what he thinks could be the solution to the upcoming energy crisis: putting self-replicating solar panels in space. These solar panels would to build copies of themselves, autonomously, on the surface of the moon. Then they would enter Earth’s orbit, collect the sun’s energy, and wirelessly beam it to the ground. Lewis-Weber’s paper builds on the work of John C. Mankins from Artemis Innovation Management Solutions. His solution is to build self cloning robots , that would make the difficult task of sending thousands and thousands of them to outerspace unecessary. The solar panel would then be growing and self replicating exponentially.

Lewis- Weber said: ”Earth orbit doesn’t have a whole lot of resources for building all those robots, so instead we could send the self-replicating machine to the moon, Lewis-Weber suggests. There, it could mine the soft lunar regolith for aluminum, iron, and silicon, to turn into parts for its solar satellite babies.

Building self-replicating robots won’t be easy, but Lewis-Weber has a plan. The first step would be to simplify the solar panels’ design as much as possible. “Instead of having 1,000 different types of screws,” he says, “let’s have five. Instead of having different molds for different parts, let’s have a 3D printer.”

And not everyone is convinced – Prof Werner Hofer, director of the Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy at the University of Liverpool, said: “Doing this in space is not a good idea because it is fantastically expensive and you probably never recover the energy you have to invest.”

Still overly expensive, this solution may not be the most practical at the moment, however its efficiency is definetly the best in all options available , due to a more stabile solar exposure in the moon, and the long term infinite potential of generating colossal amounts of solar energy for planet Earth.