California’s Project Nexus faces obstacles from weather factors and, naturally, the inevitability of nighttime. This situation has consistently vexed advocates for solar energy as a substitute for fossil fuels. However, the Japanese firm Shimizu is championing a distinctive approach to supplying continuous, high-quality solar energy for the entire globe.
Per the information on Shimizu’s site, the proposal involves constructing a band of solar cells that would encircle the moon’s equator. This band would stretch approximately 11,000 kilometers in length and vary from a few kilometers to 400 kilometers in width. The concept of transmitting solar energy from the moon is aptly named the Luna Ring.
Operating in perpetual sunlight, Shimizu’s solar cells could potentially generate 13,000 terawatts. For context, the global demand currently stands at 18–20 terawatts of consistent power. This indicates that the lunar ring could significantly diminish the reliance on fossil and nuclear fuel for energy production.