High-Purity Silicon

High purity silicon is a refined crafting material produced by smelting Silicon Ore. It serves as an intermediate material for advanced manufacturing, especially for semiconductor-related products such as Processors and photovoltaic components. Its refined nature makes it a key step in the transition from basic mineral processing to midgame electronics production.

The most basic production chain is available early: stone is first smelted into Silicon ore, then the Silicon ore is smelted again into High purity silicon. This route is functional but inefficient, since each unit of High purity silicon requires 20 stone and 22 smelter-seconds of work. As a result, early production is usually only enough to support limited needs such as buildings and logistics vessels. Large-scale production becomes practical only after interplanetary travel allows Silicon ore to be acquired directly.

High purity silicon’s main use is as the raw material for Processors, which consume 4 High purity silicon each. Because Processor demand rises sharply in the midgame, the production line for High purity silicon must also be expanded accordingly. The material is also described as suitable for photovoltaic materials and semiconductor components, reflecting its role as a high-grade silicon product in the industrial chain.

• Produced by smelting Silicon ore.
• Early-game production can be chained from stone, but the conversion is expensive and slow.
• Each unit requires 20 stone and 22 smelter-seconds if produced through the stone-to-Silicon ore route.
• Main downstream use is Processor production, at 4 High purity silicon per Processor.
• Bulk production is much easier once Silicon ore can be imported directly from other planets.