Power October 2022 + 140th Anniversary Supplement - 39

DISTRIBUTED ENERGY
Lunar Microgrids-Remote
Functionality in Space
A remote microgrid on the moon would
still need to be dynamically operable,
generating or producing energy at peak
hours and distributing excess stored energy
in sub-optimal ranges like a lunar
night. It would need to remain operable
without daily maintenance, and autonomous
reactions to the environment
would be essential.
In the past, plans for a lunar microgrid
considered the issue of energy, and
strategies revolved around monthly refuels
conducted by astronauts, who would
take trips back and forth from Earth to
provide energy for the lunar base. This
process would not only be extremely
expensive, but it would raise the potential
risk of a negative incident by a
considerable portion, as the trips could
be hazardous to equipment transport,
fuel integrity, and especially human life.
Today, solar arrays and battery storage
technology are powerful enough to generate
excess solar energy and store it
for future use on the moon, eliminating
many of the risks associated with the
regular manual maintenance of a remote
microgrid or lunar microgrid.
A unique concept that would be applied
to a lunar microgrid, however, is
preventative maintenance (PM). PM
builds the microgrid with specialized
parts and minimal complexity to ensure
that manual maintenance of the hardware
is kept at its lowest frequency. This
enables the highest operable efficiency
for lunar microgrids, as maintenance
trips to update or upgrade the microgrid
would cost much more than a microgrid
in a hostile environment on Earth.
Similarly, solar generation on the
moon during lunar days could potentially
be easier for the lunar microgrid, as less
sunlight is scattered on the moon due
to a lack of atmosphere. While remote
microgrids on Earth may need a combination
of renewable onsite energy generation
and manually refueling from time
to time, technology as it exists today
may allow for a lunar microgrid to completely
operate on solar energy alone,
cutting costs and improving downtime
for all operations.
Lunar Infrastructure: Powering
Architecture and Keeping It Online
Microgrids on the moon would serve
the purpose of keeping the lunar base
online, both for normal operations and
during an emergency. That means any
purpose the base offers, from lodging
for astronauts to research labs, infirmaries,
and more, would rely on 24/7
available energy from the microgrid to
function properly. In order to guarantee
power, systems must be in place to ensure
power during all of the following:
■ Normal " daily " operations
■ " Nighttime " operations
■ Emergency operations
■ Blackout resolution
A remote microgrid on the moon
cannot only provide energy for the
base and lack the infrastructure for
supplemental power needs, the microgrid
must also have excess energy
to provide and distribute power in select
circumstances, as well as deploy
a backup system of power to prevent
blackouts should the main microgrid
system fail. Just as on Earth there
are scenarios where several layers of
backup power systems are needed to
ensure operations remain online, the
same would be true of the lunar base
infrastructure powered by a remote microgrid.
Additionally, the criticality of
this power to produce and circulate air/
create pressurization at all times is crucial
to the function of the microgrid and
the quality of the bases' emergency
equipment loads. Protections must be
put in place to ensure these systems
run smoothly.
To prevent malfunctions or additional
redundancies, infrastructure is not just
3. Princess Elisabeth Station is the first zero-emission
polar research station with wind
turbines, solar panels, and satellite dish.
Courtesy: International Polar Foundation -
René Robert
necessary, it is lifesaving. Microgrids in
remote communities, where the communities
rely on constant energy output
from the microgrid, will often have an
N+1 redundancy, or one level or layer
of independent backup components to
build resiliency, within the microgrid to
allow the system to continue operating
in the event a segment of its technology
malfunctions. A lunar microgrid would
need investments that create N+2 or
more redundancies in the system. The
more remote the microgrid is, the more
important redundancies are to protect
the infrastructure at hand.
In the occurrence of a software malfunction
or major issue with the internal
operating system of the microgrid, remote
operators, who can access the lunar
microgrid via satellite, can also work
within the system to resolve issues
without physically being at the lunar
base. Off-grid access to energy operations,
building management systems,
and electrification projects can all be accessed
virtually via the centralized controller,
and just as the same controllers
work via satellite on Earth, the same
functionality would be available on the
moon. Special considerations like the
Earth's magnetic field and solar flares
would need to be made, however, in
case anticipations for communications
blackouts are to be expected.
Although special accommodations in
some areas would be made for the lunar
microgrid, most of the requirements to
run a successful remote microgrid on the
moon are things we have experience deploying
here on Earth. The mechanisms
that enable remote microgrid functionality,
maintenance, reliability, and sustainability
follow the same principles,
whether on Earth or on the moon, and
current logistics planning on energy generation,
efficiency, and storage make lu2.
Aerial view of the ridge and of Princess Elisabeth Antarctica from the Utseinen Nunatak.
Courtesy: International Polar Foundation - René Robert
October 2022 | POWER
www.powermag.com
nar microgrids a possibility today. ■
-Lance Haines is Microgrid Chief
Technology Officer at Schneider Electric.
39
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