The case for having a permanent base on the moon as a staging point for space exploration has been made many times over the years. Actually constructing a real lunar facility presents numerous significant logistical challenges, not least of which is the genuinely astronomical cost of sending things into space.

A team of researchers has unveiled a creative solution to one of space exploration’s biggest hurdles—how to generate power on the Moon. Now, a new study shows that “moonglass” can be fabricated from lunar dust and used to make solar panels more efficiently and cheaply than transporting them from Earth.

Scientists are developing solar panels from moon dust that could turn the Moon’s surface into an energy source for future lunar bases.