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Kent, Washington based aerospace firm Blue Origin has demonstrated a process to manufacture solar panels from moon rocks. Blue Origin, founded by the retail billionaire Jeff Bezos in 2000, is currently on its way to developing the New Glenn rocket. However, as part of its aspiration to enable operations on the lunar surface, the firm revealed earlier this week that its "Blue Alchemist" process has successfully manufactured the materials needed for solar panel production on the Moon without requiring any materials transported from Earth. The process involves separating oxygen from iron, silicon and aluminum through electrolysis at high temperatures, and Blue Origin claims that the process can be scaled up to support any level of lunar operations.
Blue Origin's 'Blue Alchemist' Solar Panel Manufacturing Process Uses Moon Rock Simulants
In order to test their process, the researchers first developed their own variant of lunar rocks. Dubbed as 'regolith simulants,' these materials are chemically similar to Moon rocks according to Blue Origin. These simulants are then passed through a process called 'molten regolith electrolysis' that subjects them to high temperatures and electrical current to separate their constituents elements from each other.
Like semiconductors, solar panels are also manufactured from silicon. And, also like semiconductors, this silicon has to be very pure for the end product to capture sunlight for power generation effectively. The silicon is treated with chemicals which enable it to transfer electrons once photons from the sunlight strike the surface. Electrons are one of the building blocks of atoms, and their transfer in wires also produces electricity.
Blue Origin's Blue Alchemist process uses the electrical current to separate the oxygen from the aluminum, iron and silicon in a two fold benefit that produces not only silicon but also fuel for rockets and inputs for life support systems. The entire process is conducted at a temperature of 1,600 degrees Celsius.
Being able to produce oxygen on the Moon will provide various benefits. Not only is the gas critical for sustained human operations since it is necessary for life support systems, but it is also crucial for launching rockets. A rocket engine uses fuel, typically kerosene, like SpaceX's Falcon 9, or hydrogen, like NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. This fuel is ignited by mixing it with oxygen for ignition. This has also led to NASA developing a pilot project for a 5-kilometer pipeline on the lunar surface to transport oxygen from the source to a storage plant.
Blue Origin also says that the process is completely environmentally friendly, as it can purify silicon up to 99.99% without using any harmful chemicals as is the case on Earth. It is also able to produce glass that is necessary to coat the solar panels operating on the Moon, to protect them from the harsh environment which results in a lower life span.
Developing a lunar base is a central part of NASA's Artemis program, and the agency has already selected SpaceX's Starship lunar lander for moving crew to the celestial body. Blue Origin is part of a second NASA proposal for a new vehicle and submitted its proposal of the Blue Moon lander late last year. It claims that the lunar solar panel manufacturing process also has tremendous potential for Earth applications since it is enviromentally friendly.
