Shimizu wants to cover Moon with solar panels

> An orbital power unit has many advantages. Ease of maintanence is not one of them.

"Are you trying to make the argument that a solar array on the lunar surface is easier to maintain than one in orbit? If so, why?"

Good question, Mike. Short response:
Lunar systems have more operational issues vs. orbital. But for a utility, the ability to restore availability is more cirtical than ease of maintenance or necessarily efficiency. Having fabrication equipment on the same gravity well inceases the odds that repairs can be done without the time and equipment risks related to an Earth launched repair.
Longer response:
We both agree that lunar conditions present challenges. Lunar dust is a big one. To be fair, if this has no engineering solution, the High Frontier may be delayed until asteroids are mined (assuming a lower engineering barrier there.) So, for the moment, I assumed there will be a workaround, even if efficiencies are reduced for a lunar manufactured system.
My thinking was: manufacture locally = reduced launch costs from Earth = advantage. Though I don't agree with the practicallity of the exact approach they outlined, theJapanese proposal had fabrication equipment on the luar surface and a transportation system alond the solar array path. That would mean that solar equipment would be on the same gravity well as the equipment that could do repairs, with a transportation system linking them.
In comparison, a large SPS needing repairs would require something to enter its orbit. Depending on what part needs work, that could be simple or really difficult in low g.
At our current level of advancement, a big bottlenck to space development is launch costs. Until we obtain most of the mass we need from non-terestrial sources there will be no High Fontier. The moon is the closest resource andextracting materials from there is a challenge. If we can't do it for solar panels, how could we set up the complex lunar extraction and launching systems required for building something like a Bernal Sphere?

From: "Combs, Mike"
To: "spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com"
Sent: Thu, June 3, 2010 2:43:57 PM
Subject: RE: [spacesettlers] RE: [ssi_list] Shimizu wants to cover Moon with solar panels

From: Matt Gallimore

> An orbital power unit has many advantages. Ease of maintanence is not one of them.

Are you trying to make the argument that a solar array on the lunar surface is easier to maintain than one in orbit? If so, why?

Regards,

Mike Combs