No Man's Sky: How to Find and Harvest Solanium

To get Solanium in No Man’s Sky, warp to a yellow star system, scan planets from orbit to find a scorched world that lists Solanium, and harvest wild Solar Vine plants by hand while wearing a Haz-Mat Gauntlet.

Finding Scorched Planets

Solanium grows naturally only on worlds in the scorched biome category. Target standard yellow star systems (spectral class F or G) on the Galaxy Map. These systems require no specialized hyperdrive upgrades such as the Cadmium, Emeril, or Indium Drives.

After entering a system, point your starship at each planet and perform an orbital scan. Inspect the resource manifest in the scan readout:

• Eligible Biome Descriptors: Scorched, Hot, Boiling, Fiery, Charred, Torrid, Scalding, or Incandescent.
• Resource List: Ensure Solanium is explicitly named in the scan profile. Hot worlds also regularly show Phosphorus and Copper.
• Omissions: If a planet lists Phosphorus but omits Solanium, it cannot grow agricultural flora. Skip it and scan the next body.

Equipment and Survival Preparation

Wild Solanium cannot be picked bare-handed. Prepare your equipment before touching down:

• Haz-Mat Gauntlet: Install this upgrade in your Exosuit technology inventory. You can purchase the blueprint for Nanite Clusters from the Exosuit vendor on the Space Anomaly. Without this module, you cannot interact with Solar Vines.
• Ion Batteries: Carry 10 to 20 Ion Batteries (crafted from Cobalt and Ferrite Dust) to recharge your thermal hazard protection during high-temperature conditions and firestorms.
• Phosphorus: Mine surface deposits with the Terrain Manipulator on hot worlds to directly recharge heat resistance technology.
• Life Support Gel: Keep gel on hand (crafted from Di-hydrogen and Carbon) to sustain your life support while sprinting across the surface.

Locating and Harvesting Solar Vines

On the surface, wild Solanium appears as the Solar Vine, a tall plant featuring glowing yellow-orange bulbs.

1. Land on Flat Terrain: Land near open plains or broad valleys, where plant clusters are easier to spot than in mountainous areas.
2. Scan with the Analysis Visor: Activate your visor to scan the horizon. Wild agricultural plants appear as green leaf icons. Tag the icon to place a navigation marker on your compass.
3. Approach and Interact: Walk up to the Solar Vine stalk and hold the interact button to pick the Solanium. Do not shoot it with your Mining Beam. Firing a mining laser destroys the plant and converts it to basic Carbon.
4. Take Cover During Storms: If superheated rain or a firestorm begins, tunnel into the ground using your Terrain Manipulator or enter your starship until temperatures normalize.
5. Check Sentinel Activity: Monitor the planetary Sentinel alert level. Aggressive Sentinels will attack if they detect you lingering near resource nodes.

Multiplying and Refining Solanium

Once you have gathered a starter amount of Solanium, you can expand your stockpile inside a Medium Refiner or Large Refiner without searching for more wild nodes.

Later in your base progression, recruiting an Agricultural Farmer unlocks the domestic Solar Vine blueprint. Domestic crops can be grown inside Bio-Domes or Hydroponic Trays. They take approximately 16 real-time hours to mature and provide a renewable harvest directly at your base.

Crafting Uses for Solanium

Solanium is required for core base expansion missions assigned by the Base Overseer and Scientist terminals. It is also an essential intermediate material for industrial trade crafting:

• Heat Capacitor: Combine 200 Solanium and 100 Frost Crystal.
• Circuit Board: Combine 1 Heat Capacitor and 1 Poly Fibre. Circuit Boards sell for high unit values on the Galactic Trade Network.
• Solar Ray: Solanium is required to construct specialized mining attachments used to extract advanced elements.