First ISRU solar cells fabricated using silicon extracted from regolith using Maana Electric’s ISRU technologies

Foetz, March 20th 2024

Maana Electric announces the production of the first silicon solar cells produced from silicon extracted from low-value feedstock using its patented Molten Salt Electrolysis technologies.

These processes, originally derived from terrestrial electro-metallurgical expertise and re-engineered for space applications, allow silicon to be recovered directly from complex oxide-rich materials rather than relying on high-grade, pre-purified inputs. Following extraction, the silicon is further purified using proprietary in-house technologies developed by the Maana Electric team, achieving material quality suitable for photovoltaic applications.

The solar cells fabricated from this ISRU-derived silicon are designed to be fully compatible with lunar manufacturing constraints. Full characterization of the solar cell has been carried out with the support of NREL (https://www.nrel.gov/).

Next step in the technology development foresees the integration of such cells into a complete system. The plan is to encapsulate the cells in transparent glass manufactured from beneficiated regolith, using Maana Electric’s dedicated beneficiation technologies. This glass is not an auxiliary component but an integral part of the demonstration: it shows that both the active photovoltaic material and the structural and protective elements of the panel can be produced locally from planetary resources.

Taken together, these developments converge toward a single, critical objective: the demonstration of a fully functional ISRU solar panel built entirely with Maana Electric technologies. From regolith beneficiation, to silicon extraction and purification, to solar cell fabrication and glass encapsulation, each step validates a key building block of a future lunar manufacturing ecosystem.

This work represents a concrete step toward enabling scalable energy infrastructure on the Moon, reducing dependence on Earth-supplied hardware, and supporting the emergence of a sustainable lunar economy powered by locally manufactured solar energy.