3 ms·
Earth solar cells are thick and heavy mostly because of the protective glass, frames, etc. The actual silicon is under a millimeter thick, and presumably could
by londons_explore 2y ago
Earth solar cells are thick and heavy mostly because of the protective glass, frames, etc.
The actual silicon is under a millimeter thick, and presumably could be made even thinner.
On Mars, with a super thin atmosphere, there may be no need to protect the cells. Just laying plain cells on the ground might prove cheapest. Sure, they'd be super fragile (imagine potato chips the size of a person and how hard they would be to lay flat on the ground without breaking) and you'd probably have to come up with special techniques to lay them whilst breaking as few as possible.
Wiring is probably the next heaviest component. But with no atmosphere, there is no need for wires to be waterproof or have insulation. Wires could be bare aluminium.
- pohl 2y agoIt's probably the martian dust and not the thickness of the atmosphere that creates the need for protection.
- micromacrofoot 2y agoabsolutely need dust protection on Mars, more than on earth wind speeds are generally lower, but the dust is thermostatically charged, tends to stick to everything, and is incredibly abrasive — wires would also need to be insulated from Mars dust because it's conductive it's a very hostile environment for solar, dramatic temperature changes are also a factor
- londons_explore 2y agomars dust is conductive? Thats news to me.
- RandallBrown 2y agoNews to me as well, but it makes sense at least on the surface. Mars is red because it's covered in rusty iron.
- micromacrofoot 2y agoit's incredibly dry so not hugely conductive, but any moisture will cause perchlorates within it to dissociate into ions I wouldn't want to bury a bunch of unshielded wire in it, especially if the wires ever get hot (which can produce moisture given the presence of specific minerals)
- hnuser123456 2y agoThere are folding camping solar panels that are designed to balance portability with reasonable durability.