guides

Solarpunk Research Decision Guide

Choose Solarpunk research by the system blocking progress, using exact costs and unlock records.

Solarpunk does not have one dependable universal tech-tree order. Pick the lane that removes your current bottleneck, verify its research and crafting costs, then pivot when the next condition in the row becomes true.

Priority Lanes

Lane	Research	Choose When	Known Gate	Exact Records	Pivot When
Opening farm	Growbox	A placeable crop bed is the current blocker; this row unlocks Growbox for 2 Wood and its recipe uses 4 Wood at the Crafting Table.	Research cost 2 Wood; craft at Crafting Table: 4 Wood	Research, Recipe, Buildable	The Growbox is placed; move to a water source or crop recipe rather than buying another unrelated unlock.
Basic production	Furnace	A selected recipe names the Furnace station; its research row costs 3 Stone and the Furnace recipe uses 15 Stone.	Research cost 3 Stone; craft at Crafting Table: 15 Stone	Research, Recipe, Buildable	The recipes you need name Energy Furnace instead, and the Energy Crafting Table materials are affordable.
Lower-material water option	Rain Collector	Compare both water options before building: Rain Collector costs 2 Wood to research and 6 Wood, 8 Stone, 6 Stick to craft.	Starting research row; research cost 2 Wood; craft at Crafting Table: 6 Wood, 8 Stone, 6 Stick	Research, Recipe, Buildable	That exact material mix is worse for your inventory than the Well row; compare both placement records.
Stone-heavy water option	Well	You can cover its source research cost of 3 Stone, 2 Wood, 2 Stick and recipe cost of 15 Stone, 10 Wood, 6 Stick.	Starting research row; source cost 3 Stone, 2 Wood, 2 Stick; craft at Crafting Table: 15 Stone, 10 Wood, 6 Stick	Research, Recipe, Buildable	Those Stone and Stick totals are the bottleneck; compare the Rain Collector row instead.
Automated watering	Sprinkler	Manual crop watering is the bottleneck and you have the Energy Crafting Table plus 5 Iron and 5 Copper for the recipe.	Research cost 1 Electrical Component; craft at Energy Crafting Table: 5 Iron, 5 Copper	Research, Recipe, Buildable	Power generation or storage is the actual blocker; fund a generator or Battery before another Sprinkler.
Power generation	Sky Turbine	You have 30 Cloth, 1 Circuit Board, and 20 Iron for the Energy Crafting Table recipe.	Research cost 1 Electrical Component; craft at Energy Crafting Table: 30 Cloth, 1 Circuitboard, 20 Iron	Research, Recipe, Buildable	That material mix is unavailable; compare Solar Panel’s 8 Iron, 8 Glass, and 8 Copper recipe.
Power generation	Solar Panel	You have 8 Iron, 8 Glass, and 8 Copper for the Energy Crafting Table recipe.	Research cost 1 Electrical Component; craft at Energy Crafting Table: 8 Iron, 8 Glass, 8 Copper	Research, Recipe, Buildable	Those materials are scarcer than 30 Cloth, 1 Circuit Board, and 20 Iron; compare Sky Turbine.
Power storage	Battery	Generation exists but production drops; the source description says Battery stores excess power and releases it later.	Research cost 1 Electrical Component; craft at Energy Crafting Table: 10 Iron, 15 Silicon, 10 Copper	Research, Recipe, Buildable	Generation is still the constraint; compare Sky Turbine and Solar Panel before adding storage.
Resource logistics	Transport Drone	Moving resources between base routes is the bottleneck and you can fund the Cobalt, Iron, Copper, and Silicon recipe.	Research cost 1 Electrical Component; craft at Energy Crafting Table: 8 Cobalt, 16 Iron, 16 Copper, 16 Silicon	Research, Recipe, Buildable	The materials or Energy Crafting Table are not ready; finish the production chain first.
Energy production	Energy Furnace	You want the source-described furnace that runs on energy and can fund 15 Iron, 15 Silicon, and 15 Copper.	Research cost 1 Electrical Component; craft at Energy Crafting Table: 15 Iron, 15 Silicon, 15 Copper	Research, Recipe, Buildable	The energy network or Energy Crafting Table is not ready; keep the original Furnace path.

Decision Rules

If You Are Blocked By	Open	Decision
Food or seed throughput	Farming guide	Compare the Growbox, water-source, and Sprinkler rows; do not treat them as one bundled unlock.
Power generation or storage	Energy guide	Choose a generator recipe first when supply is absent; choose Battery only when storage is the named problem.
One material is blocking several projects	Material planner	See whether the same material is pressuring recipes and research.
An unlock is outside this decision table	Full research planner	Filter all 90 research rows by cost, category, or unlock.