February 21, 20233 yr If true, building a base on the Moon just got a whole lot easier. Blue Origin say they have perfected a technology to create solar panels directly from Lunar regolith. They say the silicone produced is of extremely high purity, 99.99% purity. And becuse 50% of the lunar regolith has trapped oxygen, you can generate oxygen for the colony as a byproduct. https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/blue-origin-unlimited-solar-power Quote Blue Alchemist method could produce "unlimited solar power" The Blue Alchemist method uses molten electrolysis to separate aluminum, iron, and silicon from bound oxygen in lunar regolith to extract the materials for solar cell construction. In a statement, Blue Origin points out that the technique can be used to build solar cells, cover glass, and aluminum wire. All that's required is sunlight and the reactor's silicon Edited February 21, 20233 yr by martin-w
February 21, 20233 yr Earlier work by NASA on molten regolith electrolysis showed that: "Iron in different oxidation states was found to have a parasiting effect by decreasing the anodic current efficiency (oxygen production) while increasing the current density by electronic conduction. On the other hand, current efficiencies near 100% have been observed once iron is depleted from the melt by reduction into metal. This suggests that an entire batch of regolith could be processed at an average 94% current efficiency yielding 35% of the available oxygen contained in the soil. Materials limitations prevent the operation of the reactor at higher temperatures than 1600 °C required to extract more oxygen." Dugald Walker
February 22, 20233 yr 22 hours ago, martin-w said: If true, building a base on the Moon just got a whole lot easier.Blue Origin say they have perfected a technology to create solar panels directly from Lunar regolith. They say the silicone produced is of extremely high purity, 99.99% purity. Well OK, Martin, that certainly sounds good, but I'm waiting for May 6 to hear what King Charles has to say! 5800X3D, RTX4070, 600 Watt, one or two 1440p 32" screens, 64 GB RAM, 4 TB PCle 3 NVMe, Warthog throttle, VKB NXT EVO stick, Honeycomb Alpha yoke, CH quad, 3 Logitech panels, 2 StreamDecks, Desktop Aviator Trim Panel. Crystal Light VR.
February 22, 20233 yr Author Obviously power is required for the manufacture of the panels, so I envisage the NASA Kilopower reactor being utilized for that. But the more panels that are manufactured, the less reliant on the Kilopwer reactor they would be. https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/kilopower
February 22, 20233 yr Author 4 hours ago, Fielder said: Well OK, Martin, that certainly sounds good, but I'm waiting for May 6 to hear what King Charles has to say! Well, lets hope common sense prevails and its not a super lavish affair costing the tax payer mega super hyper dosh. But of course this is nothing to do with making solar panels from Moon regolith, so as quick as a flash, back on topic... This is what Blue Origin have to say. Seems they've been beavering away for two years in secret. https://www.blueorigin.com/news/blue-alchemist-powers-our-lunar-future/ Quote Since 2021, Blue Origin has been making solar cells and transmission wire from regolith simulants. To make long-term presence on the Moon viable, we need abundant electrical power. We can make power systems on the Moon directly from materials that exist everywhere on the surface, without special substances brought from Earth. We have pioneered the technology and demonstrated all the steps. Our approach, Blue Alchemist, can scale indefinitely, eliminating power as a constraint anywhere on the Moon. Quote Because our technology manufactures solar cells with zero carbon emissions, no water, and no toxic ingredients or other chemicals, it has exciting potential to directly benefit the Earth. And this is the guy they made from simulated regolith... Edited February 22, 20233 yr by martin-w
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