Japanese engineers plan to turn moon into solar panel station, using robots

London: An engineering firm is planning to install a 6,800 mile `solar belt` around the moon`s equator to make it into a giant solar panel station.

A team of Japanese engineers from Shimizu plan on building the `Luna Ring`, which will run around the 6,800 mile lunar equator and be 248 miles in width, by remote-controlled robots, the Independent reported. The 13,000 terra watts of solar energy collected would be converted and beamed back to earth as microwaves and laser, where would then be converted into electricity and then potentially supplied to the national grid. According to the giant civil engineering and construction firm, the moon`s equator is exposed to a steady amount of sun and not subject to some of the weather problems associated with solar energy generation on earth. The company is planning to have a pilot demonstration by 2020 and begin construction by 2035.