§ 4.1.4 Electric Power from the Sun

Electrical energy will be abundant and cheap from solar cells. As the MIT report on manufacturing SPSs in space put it: "...the cost of energy for the SMF operations resembles the cost pattern of SPS's: a large initial outlay for the solar array, followed by a very low operating cost (due to the absence of need for fuel and the low maintenance requirement). Therefore, for long operating times, the cost of energy in SMF operations can be substantially lower than the cost of energy in earth manufacture; this is another potential cost reduction in the lunar material scenario over the earth-based construction scenario."