Blue Origin Announces Solar Cells from Moon Soil.

Blue Origin, the space exploration company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is making strides in creating solar cells on the moon using materials found on the lunar surface. This groundbreaking technology is called Blue Alchemist and it has the potential to revolutionize the way we generate power in space.

To create the solar cells, Blue Origin is using regolith simulants which are chemically and mineralogically equivalent to lunar regolith. These simulants are made to account for the representative lunar variability in grain size and bulk chemistry. This ensures that the starting material is as realistic as possible, rather than just a mixture of lunar-relevant oxides.

Using these simulants, Blue Origin’s reactor produces iron, silicon, and aluminum through molten regolith electrolysis, where an electrical current separates those elements from the oxygen to which they are bound. The oxygen produced as a byproduct can be used for propulsion and life support.

Blue Origin’s process purifies silicon to more than 99.999%, a level of purity required to make efficient solar cells. The company’s novel process fabricates solar cells, including cover glass, using only products from their reactor. These long-lived cells resist degradation caused by radiation on the Moon.

The idea of using dirt on the Moon to manufacture solar cells may seem far-fetched, but Blue Origin is making it a reality. Once demonstrated and implemented on the Moon, Blue Alchemist will put unlimited solar power wherever it is needed. This technology could have exciting potential to directly benefit Earth as well, as it manufactures solar cells with zero carbon emissions, no water, and no toxic ingredients or other chemicals.

Blue Origin’s diverse team encompasses all the disciplines needed to solve this unprecedented technical challenge, including geologists, geochemists, electrochemists, metallurgists, materials and photovoltaic scientists, fluid dynamicists, mechanical and electrical engineers, roboticists, and instrument, space flight, and systems engineers. Their laboratory is purpose-equipped for every step of the end-to-end process of transforming regolith into solar cells and aluminum wire, including quality and longevity testing.

Overall, Blue Origin’s program to create solar cells on the moon has exciting potential to revolutionize space exploration and the way we generate power. With their focus on using lunar resources and their alignment with NASA’s highest priority Moon-to-Mars infrastructure development objective, Blue Origin is taking us one step closer to a sustainable human presence on the Moon and beyond.

Author: Stella Luna