Silicon scarcity will be lessened in 2008

Both companies have presented their views in the "China Power and Alternative Energy summit", recently held in Beijing. The supply capacity will reach 70,000 tonnes by 2008, according to Elkem Solar, due to the current efforts to increase production levels.

An important share of this effort comes from China itself, which last May passed a 1.2 billion dollar program to create solar-grade silicon plants in the Yunnan province, with a joint capacity of 10,000 tonnes annually.

Meanwhile, the summit delegates discovered that China has today an impressive capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year (including the facilities currently being developed). Besides, Sichuan Xingguang, a manufacturer, has just unveiled its pans to increase its capacity by 1,250 tonnes per year.

From the kickstart of our Energías Renovables solar newsletter, we have tracked such efforts, offering information on any new silicon production plan, including SolarWorld's 5-m euros investment, recently announced.

Last May 30th, we informed that Renewable Energy Corporation (REC), a Norwegian company that is today's largest solar-grade silicon producer, announced plans to invest $600 m increasing its production capacity from 5,300 to 6,500 tonnes per year. Some days later, we saw the agreement announced by Solar Fabrik, a German solar module manufacturer, with Poseidon Chemicals, an Indian chemical waste firm, by which the firm will buy silicon waste from the semiconductor industry.

Another German silicon producer, Wacker, will increase its capacity from 5,500 to 9,000 tonnes. Additionally, Deutsche Solar, a German cell and wafer manufacturer, announced its plans to invest 5 m euros in a second silicon recycling and purifying unit in its Freiberg's plant in Germany.

For additional information:
www.recgroup.com
www.solarworld.de
www.solar-fabrik.de

fotovoltaica

Silicon scarcity will be lessened in 2008