New technologies for production of polycrystalline silicon for solar power engineering
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RIALS FOR ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
New Technologies for Production of Polycrystalline Silicon for Solar Power Engineering B. G. Gribov and K. V. Zinov’ev Research Institute of Special-Purity Substances, Moscow, Russia Submitted February 14, 2008
Abstract—Problems of production of polycrystalline silicon for solar cells at present and in the near future are considered. New promising technologies (implemented already for small-scale production) and some unique recent developments are presented. In particular, the process of reduction of silicon oxides in the gaseous phase is very promising for production of high-purity silicon. PACS numbers: 81.05.Hd DOI: 10.1134/S1063782608130046
1. INTRODUCTION Recently, solar power engineering has progressed rapidly. The annual growth rate of worldwide production of solar modules is in excess of 20%; this tendency will likely hold in the near future. As a rule, waste from production of electronics-grade silicon has served as the raw material in solar power engineering; however, there has recently been a shortage of this waste, since the growth rate of production in the field of solar power engineering is much higher than that in electronics engineering. The shortage of silicon was replenished from reserve capacities that had producers of polycrystalline silicon for electronics. Silicon for solar cells was produced using simplified trichlorosilane technology (with one or several stages of purification excluded). Later, it was found that reserve capacities for production of electronics-grade silicon were not sufficient, while the demand for polycrystalline silicon for solar power engineering greatly exceeded the supply. The present state of development of production of polycrystalline silicon (including new approaches and designs) is analyzed in [1, 2]. The main problem at present is a pronounced shortage of polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon), which has led to a drastic increase in prices for polysilicon. Therefore, all main producers of polysilicon in the worldwide market have already planned an increase in production by 2010. In addition, there have appeared a number of new producers of polysilicon that could make a significant contribution to the total output (25% or larger). It is expected that there will be a two to three times increase in the volume of production of polysilicon by 2010; correspondingly, it is expected that the shortage in silicon for use in solar power engineering will be relieved; however, the demand for polysilicon for use in solar power engineering is expected to exceed the supply for a long time. It is assumed that prices for polysilicon to be used in solar
power engineering (solar polysilicon) will remain at a level of 100 euro for 1 kg or larger for the next five years, which makes it possible to have a large profit for producers of polysilicon. The production of solar polysilicon intended for use will be still based on trichlorosilane technology modified for production of a cheaper product. Production of solar silicon with the use of new technologies
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