Solar Polysilicon and Electronic-grade Polysilicon

System

Hi,

I have a random question related to polysilicon. My apologies if it's not completely relevant to this forum but I was hoping there might be some people with knowledge in this field who could help me out.

Are the production methods for high grade (9n to 11n) solar polysilicon the same for electronics grade polysilicon? I know there are some companies that produce 9n to 11n polysilicon for solar cells but don't supply it to semiconductor manufacturers. Why is that? There are also some companies like REC which produce both solar and electronics grade polysilicon. I'm interested in both the technical side as well as the business side.

Thank you,

Kyle

solarix

Re: Solar Polysilicon and Electronic-grade Polysilicon

Solar grade silicon has been a by-product of the semiconductor industry which is why few years ago when solar was beginning to ramp up, there was a serious supply constraint on silicon. Since then, companies have seen the potential for solar grade and it has become a separate industry. Canadian Solar - one of the new big solar module makers - has a history in reprocessing waste silicon and Dupont has come up with a novel process for high-volume, low-grade (solar) silicon and has built a plant dedicated for that in Argentina I believe.