ESA hopes, over a timescale of decades, to establish a lunar output on the South Pole of the Moon. Previous Moon missions, such as Nasa’s Apollo or the Soviet Luna mission, landed relatively near the Moon’s equator, rather than in the rugged polar moonscape.
However, the Moon’s South Pole has been identified as the possible region for a future lunar outpost, given its perpetual exposure to sunlight and the possible existence of water (hinted at by recent orbiting missions).
At TalTech, scientists are hoping to contribute to this mission through the development of solar cell technology. The researchers have presented a sandpaper-like solar cell containing thousands of sunlight-absorbing microcrystals (diameter 50μm) embedded in a polymer, in one continuous layer. The microcrystals are then coated with a buffer and window layers, allowing each crystal to function as a tiny solar cell and generate electricity.
According to the scientists, this type of solar...