Why solar power may be the key to future humans living on Mars

By Jim Leffman via SWNS

Solar power could provide all the energy needed for an extended mission to Mars, according to a new study.

The evolution in solar cell technology says that solar power could even power a permanent settlement on the Red Planet, say scientists.

Solar does as well or is comparable to nuclear power when it comes to energy on Mars, the new study has found.

It does have downsides in that it must be stored for use at night, which lasts about the same length of time as on Earth.

Production can also be stifled by the red dust that covers the planet.

NASA's 15-year-old Opportunity rover, powered by solar panels, stopped working after a massive dust storm in 2019.

Solar panels are however better because they are far lighter and at times more efficient than nuclear.

Aaron Berliner, a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, said: “Photovoltaic energy generation coupled to certain energy storage configurations in molecular hydrogen outperforms nuclear fusion reactors over 50 percent of the planet's surface, mainly within those regions around the equatorial band, which is in fairly sharp contrast to what has been proposed over and over again in the literature, which is that it will be nuclear power."

Dr. Anthony Abel, also of the University of California, Berkeley, said: "If humanity collectively decides that we want to go to Mars, this kind of systems-level approach is necessary to accomplish it safely and minimize cost in a way that's ethical."

"We want to have a clear-eyed comparison between options, whether we're deciding which technologies to use, which locations to go to on Mars, how to go and whom to bring."

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences.