The lunar regolith is a layer of loose material covering the solid bedrock on the surface of the Moon. It formed billions of years ago by constant meteorite impacts, cosmic radiation, and thermal cycling and ranges in depth from about 4-5 meters in mare regions to 10-15 meters in highland areas. It’s composed mostly of mineral fragments and tiny particles or a glass like substance. The regolith particles are angular and jagged due to the absence of weathering processes found on Earth, making them quite abrasive and problematic for lunar missions and equipment.
Buzz Aldrin’s footprint in the lunar regolith (Credit : NASA)
The same lunar regolith is at the heart of a study by a team of researchers who have developed a method for turning it into solar cells. The study was detailed in a paper published in Device on 3rd April 2025 and shows how the cells from simulated lunar regolith were able to efficiently convert sunlight into energy. The resultant cells were able to resist damage from radiation and provide an alternative to the expensive task of launching solar panels to the Moon.
“The solar cells used in space now are amazing, reaching efficiencies of 30-40% but that efficiency comes with a price. They are very expensive and relatively heavy because they use glass or a thick foil as a cover. It’s hard to justify lifting all these into space” – Felix Lang, lead researcher from the University of Postdam in Germany.
Being able to build solar panels for power from raw lunar material can dramatically reduce spacecraft launch mass by 99.4% and cut transport costs by 99%, making sustained lunar habitation far more viable. In their experiments, the team successfully produced “moon-glass” from simulated regolith and combined it with perovskite crystals to create solar cells that generate up to 100 times more energy per gram of transported material than conventional panels.
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A solar panel array of the International Space Station (Credit : NASA)
The research team discovered that their lunar regolith based solar cells demonstrated superior radiation resistance compared to Earth manufactured alternatives when subjected to radiation testing. Conventional glass gradually browns in the environment of space which then blocks sunlight and reduces power output. The manufacturing process for moon-glass proved unexpectedly straightforward the team reported, requiring no complex purification and potentially utilising concentrated sunlight to achieve the extreme temperatures necessary for melting lunar regolith into glass. Through optimising moon-glass thickness and solar cell composition, the researchers achieved 10% efficiency and project they could reach 23% with clearer moon-glass that increases light transmission.
Despite their promising results, the researchers acknowledge there are still several obstacles to implementing their lunar regolith solar cells in a lunar environment. The Moon’s reduced gravity could alter the moon-glass formation processes, current perovskite processing solvents are incompatible with the lunar vacuum conditions and extreme temperature fluctuations might compromise material stability. To address these uncertainties, the team plans to deploy a small-scale experiment on the lunar surface to test their technology under authentic lunar conditions.
Source : Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration