| Abstract | In recent years, there has been a global increase in lunar research for resource extraction and exploration, and lunar habitation has emerged as one of the major research topics. For the habitation, large temperature differences exist on the lunar surface, ranging from 90 K to 390 K, can be a major risk. However, the presence of large temperature differences facilitates temperature-based power generation, offering the possibility of using thermoelectric generators (TEGs). TEGs can generate electricity directly from heat flow, and are expected to be more suitable for the lunar environment than conventional power generation methods because they are less dependent on drives and can generate electricity regardless of the direction of the heat flow. In addition, due to the meteorite impact, the shape of the manned habitat is determined to be buried in the soil, and in this case, a sensor system to detect the external environment is essential. Therefore, this study proposes a small sensor system using TEG for the lunar manned habitat. As a first step, this paper presents the investigation of suitability of the TEG on the lunar surface. The experiment is conducted in the extreme environment chamber which can generate high-vacuum and cryogenic condition, by measuring power generation of the TEG along the condition change. The result showed increased voltage generation under the lunar condition, proving lunar environment is favorable for the thermoelectric power generation. |
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