Solar Grade-Silicon, Ingot, Wafer Technology and ... - Displaybank

Solar Grade-Silicon, Ingot, 

Wafer Technology and Market Trend 

(2008~2012) 

Jan 2009 

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Solar Grade-Silicon, Ingot, Wafer Technology and Market Trend (2008~2012) 

Solar Grade-Silicon, Ingot, 

Wafer Technology and Market Forecast 

(2008~2012) 

Jan 2009 

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Displaybank Co., Ltd. 

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e-mail: Brad@displaybank.com 

All Contents of this report remain the property of Displaybank 

Jan’09


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Jan’09


 

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 

1.1 Renewable Energy and Photovoltaic ................................................................................................................. 

1.2 Low-cost Strategy for Solar cell ......................................................................................................................... 

1.3. Poly-Silicon Process ........................................................................................................................................... 

2. Poly-Silicon Technologies .............................................................................................................. 

2.1. Metallurgical Grade-Silicon (MG-Si) Process ................................................................................................. 

2.2. Solar Grade-Silicon (SoG-Si) Process .............................................................................................................. 

2.3. Current Technologies (Simens Process) ........................................................................................................... 

2.3.1 Siemens Process Using TCS (TrichloroSilane).......................................................................................... 

2.3.2 Simens Process Using MS (Monosilane)................................................................................................. 

2.3.3. Hydrogen Reduction Process Using Tetrachlorosilane ........................................................................... 

2.4. Alternative Technologies 1 (FBR, VLD, FSR Process) ............................................................................... 

2.4.1 Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) : MEMC, Wacker, REC etc. ..................................................................... 

2.4.2 Vapor to Liquid Deposition (VLD) : Tokuyama ...................................................................................... 

2.4.3 Free Space Reactor (FSR) : Joint Solar Silicon ....................................................................................... 

2.5 Alternative Technologies 2 (Metallugical Process) ......................................................................................... 

2.5.1 Acid Leaching .......................................................................................................................................... 

2.5.3 SOLSILC Process (Netherlands, Norway) .............................................................................................. 

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2.5.4 UMG-Si Process (Elkem, Norway) ......................................................................................................... 

2.5.5 Vaccum Refining Process (Kawasaki Steel Corporation, Japan) ............................................................. 

2.5.6 Dow Corning´s Route - NREL.............................................................................................................. 

3. Ingot/ Wafer Process .................................................................................................................... 

3.1. Ingot Process .................................................................................................................................................... 

3.2.1 Czochralski Mehod (CZ) ......................................................................................................................... 

3.2.2 Floating Zone Method (FZ) ..................................................................................................................... 

3.3 Multicrystalline Ingot ....................................................................................................................................... 

3.3.1 Block Casting Method ........................................................................................................................... 

3.3.2 Electromanetic Casting Process ............................................................................................................... 


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3.4 Wafering Process ............................................................................................................................................... 

3.5 New Wafer Technology ..................................................................................................................................... 

3.5.1. Ribbon Wafer ................................................................................................................................................ 

3.5.2. Ribbon Wafer (Type I) ............................................................................................................................ 

3.5.3 Ribbon Wafer (Type Ⅱ) .......................................................................................................................... 

3.5.4 EFG (Edge-Defined Film Growth, type 1) .............................................................................................. 

3.5.5 SR (String Ribbon, type 1) ....................................................................................................................... 

3.5.6 DW (Dentric Web, type 1) ....................................................................................................................... 

3.5.7 RGS (Ribbon Growth on Substrate, type 2) ............................................................................................. 

3.5.8 CDS (Crystallization on Dipped Substrate, type 2) ................................................................................. 

3.5.9 SSP Ribbon ( Silicon sheets from powder ) ............................................................................................. 

3.6 Thin Wafer ......................................................................................................................................................... 

3.6.1. DFT (Direct Film Transfer) ..................................................................................................................... 

3.6.2 SLIM (Stress-Induced Lift-off Method) .................................................................................................. 

4. Poly-Silicon Maker Trend ........................................................................................................... 

4.1. Current Producer ............................................................................................................................................. 

4.1.1. Hemlock Semiconductor Corporations (HSC)........................................................................................ 

4.1.2. Wacker Chemi ......................................................................................................................................... 

4.1.3. Renewable Energy Corporation (REC)................................................................................................... 

4.1.4. Tokuyama ................................................................................................................................................ 

4.1.5. Monsanto Electronic Materials Company (MEMC)............................................................................... 

4.1.6. Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC) .............................................................................................. 

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4.1.7. Sumitomo ................................................................................................................................................ 

4.2. New Entrants – Current Technologies ........................................................................................................... 

4.2.1. Silicium De Provence (SilPro) ................................................................................................................ 

4.2.3. Other Korean........................................................................................................................................... 

4.2.4. Isofóton and ENDESA ............................................................................................................................ 

4.2.5. Hoku Scientific ....................................................................................................................................... 

4.2.6. M. Setek .................................................................................................................................................. 

4.2.7. LDK Solar ............................................................................................................................................... 

4.2.8. Emei ........................................................................................................................................................ 

4.2.9. LuoYang China Silicon ........................................................................................................................... 

4.2.10. Sichuan Xinguang ................................................................................................................................. 

4.2.11. Nitol Solar ............................................................................................................................................. 


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4.3. New Entrants-Alternative Technologies ......................................................................................................... 

4.3.1. Elkem Solar ............................................................................................................................................ 

4.3.2. Joint Solar Silicon (JSSI)........................................................................................................................ 

4.3.4. Solarvalue AG ......................................................................................................................................... 

4.3.5. Dow Corning .......................................................................................................................................... 

4.3.6. Bécancour Silicon (BSI) ......................................................................................................................... 

4.3.7. AE Polysilicon ........................................................................................................................................ 

5. Ingot/Wafer Producers ................................................................................................................ 

5.1. PCMP (Podolsky Chemical & Metallurgical Plant) ..................................................................................... 

5.2. Pillar JSC .......................................................................................................................................................... 

5.3. PV Crystalox Solar .......................................................................................................................................... 

5.4. M. Setek ............................................................................................................................................................ 

5.5. REC-Sitech, Scanwafer ................................................................................................................................... 

5.6. Wacker Shott Solar .......................................................................................................................................... 

5.7. MEMC .............................................................................................................................................................. 

5.8. Silicon Ltd (Soetlorodsk)................................................................................................................................. 

5.9. Swiss Wafer ...................................................................................................................................................... 

5.10. Solar World .................................................................................................................................................... 

5.11. Kyocera ........................................................................................................................................................... 

5.12. ASi Industries GmbH .................................................................................................................................... 

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6. Poly-Silicon Market Forecast (2007~2012) ................................................................................ 

6.1. Poly-Silicon Production & Capacity ............................................................................................................. 

6.2. Poly-Silion supply & Demand forecast for solar cell .................................................................................... 

6.3. Poly-Silicon Production & Capacity by company ......................................................................................... 

6.4. Poly-Silicon Price (Contract, Spot) ................................................................................................................. 

6.5. Poly-Silicon Revenue forecast (Solar) ............................................................................................................ 

6.6. Poly-silicon Production Cost by Technology .................................................................................................. 

6.7. Poly-Silicon Capacity by Region ..................................................................................................................... 

6.8. Poly-Silicon Production Forecast by Region ................................................................................................. 


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6.9. Poly-Silicon production by technology ........................................................................................................... 

6.10. UMG-Si ........................................................................................................................................................... 

6.11. Ingot/Wafer Production ................................................................................................................................. 

6.12. Wafer Revenue ............................................................................................................................................... 

7. Reference List ............................................................................................................................... 

8. Index .............................................................................................................................................. 

8.1. Table .................................................................................................................................................................. 

8.2. Figure ................................................................................................................................................................ 

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1.3. Poly-silicon Process 

The solar grade-silicon and its wafer manufacturing technology can be 

summarized like the figure below. The process starts with metallurgical silicon, 

MG-Si, which has about 99% purity and undergoes gasification and 

purification processes to obtain silane gas. The silane gas is extracted at high 

temperature to obtain solar grade-silicon, SoG-Si. The solar grade-silicon 

manufacturing process includes Siemens, FBR, and VLD methods. Details of 

these methods will be discussed in the following chapter. 

Figure 1.3.1. Silicon Solar Cell Manufacturing Process 

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The silicon obtained from the above process is categorized into chip (chunk), 

granular, and powder (dust-like) shapes upon the manufacturing method. The 

silicon is melt again to produce ingot. Czochralski, CZ, method is used to 

manufacture monocrystalline ingot and heating furnace is used to manufacture 

multicrystalline ingot blocks. The monocrystalline ingot has limited diameter 

since it grow crystal vertically and needs to cut edges to produce rectangular 

wafers that its final wafer size is smaller than the one of multicrystalline ingot 

method. Currently, the maximum size of the monocrystalline silicon wafer is 

156 x 156mm. 

The solar grade-silicon must satisfy physical property requirements like the 

following. First requirement is the size of poly-silicon. The size is an extremely 


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important factor in determining silicon’s quality and unit cost. The poly-silicon 

is categorized into powder (dust-like) type which is smaller than several tens of 

um, granular type with several mm, and chunk (chip) type which is greater 

than several cm. 

For instance, the dust-like type manufactured by so-called free space method 

has the most effect on manufacturing cost cut among chemical methods using 

gas reactions. On the other hand, it has a shortcoming that it is difficult to 

regulate processes while melting silicon to grow crystals, which is a 

subsequent process, due to large specific surface areas and low density. 

Hence, the granular or chunk types appear proper considering subsequent 

processes. The granular type poly-silicon has a high filling density of crucible 

during crystal growth and enables continuous processes through fixed supply, 

but it also has large specific surface areas that it is difficult to handle since it is 

easily contaminated by external environments. The poly-silicon manufactured 

by Siemens method is mostly chunk type. This type is easy to handle in 

process, but has a low crucible filling density. 

The most important physical property of the poly-silicon is purity. The 

concentration of impurities within the poly-silicon has the biggest effect on the 

efficiency of solar cells and is the most critical variation in determining 

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manufacturing costs. Impurities included within the silicon interior are generally 

divided into metal impurities and non-metal impurities. Major metal impurities 

include Fe, Al, Ti, Ca, Na, Zn, and Cu. Their inclusions may vary upon the 

initial silica materials and metallurgical silicon manufacturing processes. The 

poly-silicon must only include less than 1ppba metal impurities like the figure 

below in order to be used in solar cells. 

The second method creates trichlorosilane through metallurgical silicon and 

hydrogenation processes. 


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3SiCl 4 + 2H 2 + Si = 4SiHCl 3 

This process spills mixture of tetrachlorosilane and hydrogen to the 

metallurgical silicon within a fluidized reactor usually at 500°C and 35 bars and 

obtains trichlorosilane. 

Figure 2.10. Interior of Siemens Reactor 

The Siemens process has rather poor energy efficiency; it consumes a large 

amount of electricity to maintain extraction temperature at higher than 1,000℃ 

during the process and has a great loss in amount of heat while continuously 

cooling down interior walls with circulating coolants to prevent Si extractions. 

Usually, it loses more than 90% of energy input in exterior cooling walls. The 

Siemens methods consumes about 60~150kWh in manufacturing 1 kg of 

SoG-Si. Hence, it installs several bars within the Siemens reactor in order to 

enhance the low efficiency (refer to figure 2.11). 

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2.4.2 Vapor to Liquid Deposition (VLD): Tokuyama 

VLD method produces trichlorosilane or monosilane gasses by reacting 

metallic silicon with either hydrochloric acid or hydrogen, and then produces 

liquid silicon directly from the gas. It is similar to the Siemens process in using 

trichlorosilane gasses, but it obtains liquid silicon as the gas undergoes a tubeshaped 

reactor with inductive heating to be restored. 

Figure 2.4.2 VLD Method Concept 

Source: Tokuyama 

Hence, VLD method has outstanding efficiency and productivity. It has 

extraction speed 10 times faster than the conventional Siemens process, but 

is difficult to delete impurities. The Siemens process starts with obtaining 

semiconductor silicon with ultra high purity and is applied to the solar gradesilicon 

production by lowering the quality and enhancing the productivity. On 

the other hand, VLD process is suitable for the solar grade-silicon production 

which requires relatively lower quality and high productivity. The VLD process 

is currently known to be developed by Tokuyama, but has difficulties in terms 

of yield. Its energy efficiency is more than 5 times higher than the Siemens 

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Figure 2.19. Tube Reactor in Joint Solar Silicon (JSSi) Process 

Source: Joint Solar Silicon 

The traditional Siemens process decomposes silane in silicon seed (U-rod), 

whereas the Joint Solar Silicon reactor decomposes silane in reactor’s interior 

space that it is called “free space reactor method”. The method supplies 

hydrogen and silane to the reactor’s interior and enters heat to walls to 

decompose silane away from the walls. Like in the Siemens process, the free 

space reactor method does not require equipments for silicon seed preheating 

and is able to prevent pollutions from graphite which composes the preheating 

equipments. The method uses monosilane rather than chlorosilane for raw 

materials because the monosilane enables low temperature processes and 

decomposes well that it converts gasses to silicon in reactors with single 

process. However, the monosilane may possibly explode when it is in contact 

with oxygen that reactors must be designed carefully to prevent such outcome. 

It is also more expensive than trichlorosilane. The thermal decomposition 

reaction of silane is like the following. 

SiH 4 -> SiH 2 +H 2 

SiH 2 + SiH 4 –> Si 2 H 6 

SiH 2 +Si 2 H 6 -> Si 3 H 8 

The silicon powder manufactured through reactors undergoes high density 

process for easy handling, delivery, and loading. Here, the density increases 

from 50g/L to 500g/L. The figure below shows silicon powder that finished the 

high density process. The powder is melted and produced into ingot to be 

manufactured into final products. 

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Figure 2.5.1 Impurities in MG-Si: Equilibrium Distribution Coefficient 

Most impurities, except for phosphorus, boron, and carbon, have extremely 

small equilibrium distribution coefficient. This indicates that the impurities are 

concentrated in liquid phase silicon rather than in solid phase silicon in mushy 

zone. Hence, impurities tend to concentrate in areas where they are solidified 

at last. 

As shown in the figure below, impurities show the maximum solubility near 

melting point and the solubility radically declines as temperature drops. Hence, 

the metal impurities that exceed solubility during solidification processes are 

efficiently extracted through crystal boundaries or cracks in general. Silicon is 

insoluble to acids, whereas the metal impurities dissolve well in acids. Pickling 

process selectively eliminates the extracted metal impurities with acid. 

Figure 2.5.2 Metal Impurities Employment within Silicon 

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3.2.2 Floating Zone Method (FZ) 

Floating zone method was developed by Keck and others in 1952. It manufactures 

silicon with the highest purity. Its basic principle includes partially melting long bar to 

produce liquid phase region. It moves the region following after the bar to grow 

monocrystal. Most impurities within silicon usually have equilibrium distribution 

coefficient less than 1 that the impurities are separated in the liquid phase region with 

CO/K concentration. The liquid phase region is cornered to move impurities towards 

the end of the bar simultaneously. 

Figure 3.2.3. Floating Zone Method Equipment 

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As shown in the figure, the FZ method has no parts in contact with silicon 

liquid unlike the CZ method that it can fundamentally prevent pollutions from 

crucibles and obtain silicon with high quality. On the other hand, it requires a 

liquid phase to remain in-between solid phases as a surface tension that it has 

a limitation in a diameter of ingot to be manufactured. The method is generally 

used to manufacture silicon bars of several tens of mm. The maximum 

diameter of ingot using the currently developed floating zone method is about 

150 mm. Therefore, the FZ method is improper to be used commercially due 

to low productivity. Instead, it is used in special occasions when silicon with 

high purity is needed. 


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Figure 3.3.5. Comparison between Conventional Solidification Process and Electromagnetic 

Casting Method 

Unlike the ingot obtained by cooling in the conventional graphite crucible or a quartz 

crucible located within the graphite crucible, the FZ method obtains silicon with high 

quality by minimizing contacts with crucibles and hence preventing pollutions from the 

crucibles. Moreover, it enhances productivity by reducing replacement expenses spent 

in crucibles, which are disposed after a single or few uses, and enabling continuous 

operations (productivity in same time frame is about 5 times higher than HEM method 

and 7 to 15 times higher than Czochralski method). However, this technology has a 

difficulty in silicon application. Silicon has difficult electromagnetic induction due to low 

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electric conductivity in solid phase. It is also difficult to expect processes with high 

efficiency since it melts silicon with high latent heat and melting point in water-cooling 

crucibles and loses a lot of heat. Therefore, the industry conducts research studies in 

order to resolve such issues and the method is sometime used in combination with the 

conventional refining process like the figure below. The figure shows a method that 

melts silicon through plasma melting to create liquid phase and enters it to a crucible. 

Silicon mostly displays nonconductive property in solid phase, but shows conductive 

property in liquid phase. 


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Figure 3.5.3. Post-Annealing Method for Temperature Stress Reduction (EFG Method) 

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3.5.3 Ribbon Wafer (Type Ⅱ) 

This method instantly deletes latent heat, which is generated on mushy 

interface during solidification of silicon, though cold substrates touching the 

silicon. Unlike the type I that deletes latent heat with radiant heat of solidified 

ribbon itself, the type II moves heat through large area substrates that it 

efficiently deletes latent heat, hence grows ribbon fast. The maximum speed to 

grow ribbon, Vp, is as follows. 

“a” is a valid heat delivery coefficient, “s” is a mushy interface area in a 

direction of ribbon growth, and “ T" is a temperature difference between liquid 

phase silicon and substrate. According to the equation, the maximum speed to 

grow ribbon is 600cm/sec when T is 160 o C. It rapidly creates ribbon by 

efficiently deleting the latent heat and has high productivity. However, it grows 

crystal starting from areas touching substrates that it has relatively smaller 

crystal structure with chaotic direction compared to the type II method. The 

type II method grows crystals at irregular speed which varies upon time. It has 

a fast crystal growing speed at initial solidification phases where liquid phase 

silicon touch substrates directly, but the speed slows down once ribbons are 

created because the latent heat generated from the mushy interface 

undergoes the created ribbon thickness and exits towards substrates. It is 

expressed in the following equation. “s(t)” is a location of mushy interface upon 

time. 

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4.1.3. Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) 

REC was newly established in the 90’s in Norway. It is a child company of 

Fornybar Energi AS from 1996 and has been focusing on renewable energy 

field. REC was found by merging Scanwafer AS, SolEnergy AS, and Fornybar 

Energi AS in November 2000. REC secures an idealistic corporate structure 

with completed vertical integrations in all fields of solar cell value chain, 

including poly-silicon, substrate, cell, module, installation, and drive, through 

its child companies like REC Silicon, REC Wafer, and REC Solar. 

Figure4.1.5. Vertically Integrated Solar Cell Business Structure of REC 

Source: REC 

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REC manufactures about 6,150M/T in 2008 and seems possible to 

manufacture up to about 12,400M/T in 2009. It signed a long-term contract 

with NeoSolar Power from Taiwan to supply poly-silicon of about USD 450 

million worth until 2015. It also announced to construct additional monosilane 

production line in Singapore in 2007 to secure monosilane production of 

maximum 2,300M/T per year. Unlike other companies, REC used monosilane 

gas as raw materials to secure its own technology. It also solitarily developed 

closed-loop method... 


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4.2.7. LDK Solar 

LDK Solar is a large silicon wafer maker. LDK purchased most of poly-silicon 

manufacturing technology and equipment from overseas and applied in 

production. It manufactures from poly-silicon to wafer. Its production base for 

solar grade-wafer is located in Xinyu, China. It is constructing a factory to 

annually produce 14,000 tons of poly-silicon through its child company, Jiangxi 

PolySilicon. It uses Siemens method to manufacture poly-silicon. Fluor from 

the U.S. is in charge of the factory design, construction, and management. GT 

Solar from the U.S. is in charge of reactors and LXE Solar and CDI 

Engineering Solutions are in charge of trichlorosilane supply. Fluor is known to 

have invested total of USD 1.2 billion, which includes USD 1 billion for down 

payment, to the construction by Jiangxi Polysilicon. The poly-silicon factory by 

Jiangxi PV Silicon Hi-Tech was expected to be completed in June 2008 and 

was scheduled to receive 400 tons of trichlorosilane per month from Jiangxi 

Ganzhong Chlorine & Caustic starting in May 2008. Sunways signed a 

contract to supply reactors to LDK and receive poly-silicon supplies from LDK. 

In addition, Jiangxi PolySilicon independently manufactures trichlorosilane and 

its production capacity is 90,000 ton/yr. 

Figure4.9. Solar Cell p-Si Manufactured by LDK 

Source: LDK 

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6.2. p-Si supply & Demand forecast for solar cell 

The solar cell market recorded more than 40% average annual growth rate 

from 2007 to 3Q 2008 due to support policies by each nation’s government 

and the importance of PV business with global recognition in environmental 

issues. Such high growth rate resulted in shortages of poly-silicon, a raw 

material for crystalline solar cell. The spot price of short-term contract even 

went up to US$400/Kg. Numerous companies announce their plans to join the 

poly-silicon business which shows high earning rate. 

The figure below is data collected by analyzing 80 new entrants including the 7 

major global p-Si makers. It forecasts solar grade-silicon supply by three 

scenarios. The p-Si supply is projected to exceed demand starting in 2009 and 

record the highest supply surplus in 2010. 

However, the large-scale investments by the new entrants are likely to be 

delayed due to the global economic slump from 2009 to the first half of 2010. If 

the conventional p-Si maker’s production cuts are added here, it may create a 

reversed situation of the raw material shortages starting in 2011, after the 

supply surplus for a short period of time (2009 to 2010), like Scenario 2. 

Hence, the advanced conventional makers focus in product differentiation by 

enhancing quality and purity. They propel strategies to maintain a stable p-Si 

price. 

Figure6.2. Solar Cell p-Si Demand/Supply Forecast 

MW 

40,000 

35,000 

30,000 

25,000 

20,000 

15,000 

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Cell Demand (MW) 

Supply (MW, S1) 

Supply (MW, S2: Base) 

Supply (MW, S3) 

10,000 

5,000 

0 

2007 2008 2009F 2010F 2011F 2012F 


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6.3. p-Si Production & Capacity by company 

The table below shows production and capacity by group and maker. Each 

data is combined value of solar p-Si and electronics p-Si. 

Table 6.3. p-Si Production & Capacity by Company 

. 

Group 

Group 1 

Group 2 

Company Name 

Hemlock 

Wacker 

REC SGS (Moses Lake) 

Tokuyama 

MEMC Pasadena 

REC Asimi (Butte) 

MEMC Merano 

Mitsubishi Material 

Mitsubishi Polysilicon 

Osaka Titanium (Sumitomo Titanium) 

Group 1 Total 

Production 

Capacity 

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 

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Group 3 

Group 2 Total 

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Others in Group 3 

Group 3 Total 

Group 4(Others) Total 


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8. Index 

8.1. Table 

Table 1.1.1 Reneable Energy Investment and Generation Unit Cost .......................................................................... 

Table 2.1.1. Purity of Utilized Raw Materials by Carbo Process ............................................................................. 

Table 2.1.2. Utilized Raw Material by Direct Reduction Project................................................................................ 

Table 2.3.1.1 Characteristic of Siemens Method ...................................................................................................... 

Table 2.3.1.1 Comparison of TCS-based Siemans and MS-based Siemens ............................................................. 

Table 3-1. Property Comparison by Silicon Ingot Growth Technology .................................................................... 

Table 3.5.1. Manufacturing Unit Cost by Solar Cell Process (%) ............................................................................. 

Table 3.5.2. Ribbon Growth Method Comparison .................................................................................................... 

Table 3.5.3.Property Comparison by Ribbon Technology ........................................................................................ 

Table 4.2.1. Presented by DC Chemical ................................................................................................................... 

Table 4.2.2. p-Si Plant Construction Project Status of LuoYang ZhongGui ............................................................. 

Table 4.2.3. Long-Terrn p-Si Supply Contract Status of Nitol Solar ........................................................................ 

Table 4.3.1. Impurities Concentration of Bécancour Silicon UMG-Si ..................................................................... 

Table 5.1. Monocrystalline Silicon Portfolio Manufactured by Podolsk .................................................................. 

Table 5.2. Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cell Portfolio Manufactured by Podolsk ................................................. 

Table 5.3. Solar Cell Wafer Standared Manufactured by Pillar JSC ......................................................................... 

Table 5.4. Kyocera’s Expansion Plan........................................................................................................................ 

Table 6.1. p-Si production & Capacity by Section ..................................................................................................... 

Table 6.2. Solar Cell p-Si Demand/Supply Forecast .................................................................................................. 

Table 6.3. p-Si Production & Capacity by Company ................................................................................................ 

Table 6.4. p-Si Price Forecast ($/Kg)......................................................................................................................... 

Table 6.5. p-Si Revenue ............................................................................................................................................. 

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Table 6. 6. Manufacturing Cost Ratio by Method ($/Kg) .......................................................................................... 

Table 6.7. poly-Silicon Capacity by Region .............................................................................................................. 

Table 6.8. poly-Silicon Production Forecast by Region............................................................................................. 

Table 6.10. UMG-Si Capacity by Company .............................................................................................................. 

Table 6.11. Ingot/Wafer Production ........................................................................................................................... 

Table 6.12. Wafer Revenue ........................................................................................................................................ 


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8.2. Figure 

Figure 1.1.1 Long-Term Forecast of Power Generation Volume by Global Energy Source ....................................... 

Figure 1.1.2 Potential Energy Volume of the Earth .................................................................................................... 

Figure 1.1.3 Types of Solar Cell ................................................................................................................................. 

Figure 1.1.4. Rouch Comparison of Generation Unit Cost by Power Source ............................................................. 

Figure 1.1.5. Module Manufacturing Unit Cost upon Cell Efficiency ........................................................................ 

Figure 1.1.6. Composition Ratio of Solar Cell Manufacturing Unit Cost ................................................................... 

Figure 1.1.7 Wafer and Module Manufacturing Unit Cost upon p-Si Manufacturing 1 Unit Cost ............................. 

Figure 1.2.1. Silicon Solar Cell Value Chain .............................................................................................................. 

Figure 1.2.2. Technology Direction for Inexpensive Solar Cell Material ................................................................... 

Figure 1.3.1. Silicon Solar Cell Manufacturing Process ............................................................................................. 

Figure 1.3.2. Monocrystalline Ingot Manufacturing Process ...................................................................................... 

Figure 1.3.3. Polycrystalline Silicon Wafer Manufacturing Process ........................................................................... 

Figure 2.1. Market Share and Forecast of p-Si Manufacturing Technology ............................................................... 

Figure 2.2. Metal Impurity Concentration Limit of Solar Cell p-Si ........................................................................... 

Figure 2.3. Nonmetal Impurity Concentration Limit of Solar Cell p-Si ..................................................................... 

Figure 2.1.1. MG Silicon Manufacturing Process (Elkem)......................................................................................... 

Figure 2.1.2. SiO Equilibrium Vapor Pressure upon Temperature .............................................................................. 

Figure 2.1.3 Achro Used in Silicon Reduction (ECN)................................................................................................ 

Figure 2.1.4. Carbothermic Reduction (ECN) ............................................................................................................ 

Figure 2.2.1. Environmental Variatios Need to be Considered in Each Process ......................................................... 

Figure 2.9. Basic Structure of Bell-jar Reactor Used in Siemens Method .................................................................. 

Figure 2.10. Interior of Siemens Reactor .................................................................................................................. 

Figure 2.11. U-Bar Arragement Inside of Siemens Reactor ...................................................................................... 

Figure 2.12. Silicon U-Bar Manufactured by Siemens Method ................................................................................ 

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Figure 2.13. Silicon Chunk Obrained by Pulverizing Silicon U-Bar ........................................................................ 

Figure 2.3.2.1 Deposition Principle of TCS-based and MS-based ........................................................................... 

Figure 2.4.1 Fluidized Bed Reactor .......................................................................................................................... 

Figure 2.4.2 VLD Method Concept .......................................................................................................................... 

Figure 2.4.3 Silicon Production Plant in Tokuyaman Using VLD Method .............................................................. 

Figure 2.4.4 Property of Ingot Refined Using VLD Method .................................................................................... 

Figure 2.19. Tube Reactor in Joint Solar Silicon (JSSi) Process .............................................................................. 

Figure 2.20. Silicon Underwent High-Density Process ............................................................................................ 

Figure 2.5.1 Impurities in MG-Si: Equilibrium Distribution Coefficient ................................................................. 

Figure 2.5.2 Metal Impurities Employment within Silicon ...................................................................................... 

Figure 2.5.3 Acid Leaching Process Outline ............................................................................................................. 

Figure 2.5.4. SOLSILC Project Structure Map ......................................................................................................... 


Jan’09


Figure 2.5.5. SOLSILC Process Outline ................................................................................................................... 

Figure 2.5.6. 100 kW Pilot Arc Furnace and Eduction Process ................................................................................ 

Figure 2.5.7.Crystalox furnace (SINTEF) for Directional Solidification ................................................................. 

Figure 2.28. Elkem Process Outline ......................................................................................................................... 

Figure 2.29. μ-PCD Lifetime Estimation of Wafer Manufactured with p-Si Mixed with 0, 33, 50, and 100 % 

of Elkem’s UMG-Si to Conventional p-Si ................................................................................................................ 

Figure 2.30. Efficiency of Solar Cell Manufactured by Mixing Conventioanl Silicon with UMG-Si ...................... 

Figure 2.5.9. Kawasaki Steel Silicon Refining Process ............................................................................................ 

Figure 2.5.10. Kawasaki Steel Silicon Refining Process Map .................................................................................. 

Figure 2.5.11. Phosphorus Deletion Ratio in Electron beam Refining Process ........................................................ 

Figure 2.5.12. 1st Impurities Distribution of Ingot with Completed Directional Solidification ............................... 

Figure 2.5.13. Boron Deletion in Plasma Process upon Hydrogen and Vapor Addition ........................................... 

Figure 2.5.14. Vapor Pressure Curve by Element upon Temperature ....................................................................... 

Figure 2.5.15. NREL Process Outline (modified HEM) ........................................................................................... 

Figure 2.5.16. Modified HEM Reactor of Bench Scale ............................................................................................ 

Figure 2.5.17. HEM amd 60kg Silicon Ingot Used in NREL Experiment ................................................................ 

Figure 3.1. Cell Technology Shares .......................................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.2.1. Czochralski Growth Equipment .......................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.2.2. Monocrystalline Ingot Manufacturing Process through Czochraliski Growth ................................. 

Figure 3.2.3. Ingot Diameter Change upon Czochralski Growth Speed ................................................................... 

Figure 3.2.3. Floating Zone Method Equipment ....................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.3.1. Polycrystalline Ingot Manufacturing Method ...................................................................................... 

Figure 3.9. Dislocation Defect Distribution and Efficiency Distribution ................................................................. 

Figure 3.10. p-Si Manufactured by Block Casting Method ...................................................................................... 

Figure 3.3.4. Electromagnetic Continuous Casting Method .................................................................................. 

Figure 3.3.5. Comparison between Conventional Solidification Process and Electromagnetic Casting Method ..... 

SAMPLE 

Figure 3.3.6. Plasma Refining Process Using Electromagnetic Casting Method ..................................................... 

Figure 3.14. Solar Cell Wafer Manufacturing Process .............................................................................................. 

Figure 3.15. Silicon Wafer Manufacturing Process and Cut Loss ............................................................................ 

Figure 3.16. Polycrystalline Silicon Blocking Process ............................................................................................. 

Figure 3.17. Silicon Ingot Sawing Process and Loss Ratio by Process .................................................................... 

Figure 3.18. Silicon Block Cut Process .................................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.19. Polycrystalline Silicon Block after 1 st Cut ............................................................................................ 

Figure 3.20. Solar Cell Silicon Wafer Thickness and Cut Loss Variations ............................................................... 

Figure 3.5.1. Meniscus Shape Category ( M1,M2: Type1, M3: Type2 ) ............................................................... 

Figure 3.5.2. Crystal Growth Direction Category ..................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.5.3. Post-Annealing Method for Temperature Stress Reduction (EFG Method) ........................................ 

Figure 3.24. Edge-defined Film-fed Growth (EFG) Method Outline ....................................................................... 


Jan’09


Figure 3.25. EFG Growth Equipment and Substrate Manufactured in Octagonal Pilars .......................................... 

Figure 3.26. Substrate Manufactured by EFG (EFG-Cell 125 x 125 mm) ............................................................... 

Figure 3.27. Solar Cell Efficiency Using EFG Wafer ............................................................................................... 

Figure 3.5.7. SR Method Process Outline ................................................................................................................. 

Figure 3.5.8. SR Method Equipment ........................................................................................................................ 

Figure 3.5.9. Dendritic Web Equipment ................................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.5.10. Ribbon Solar Cell Efficiency by Technology (Lab scale) ................................................................. 

Figure 3.5.11. RGS Growth Equipment .................................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.5.11. Crystal Growth and Temperature Distribution in RGS Method ........................................................ 

Figure 3.5.12. Crystal Structure Comparison in RGS Method upon Growth Condition .......................................... 

Figure 3.5.12. RGS Wafer Thickness (a) and Growth Speed (b) upon Initial Substrate Temperature ................... 

Figure 3.5.13. Shunting Mechanisms in RGS Method ............................................................................................. 

Figure 3.5.14. RGS Substrate Efficiency .................................................................................................................. 

Figure 3.5.15. CDS Wafer Manufactured by Sharp (Substrate Size: 156 x 156 mm) ............................................... 

Figure 3.5.16. Silicon Wafer Manufacturing Process Using CDS ............................................................................ 

Figure 3.5.17. Wafer Size and Production Volume Variation through CDS Method ............................................. 

Figure 3.5.18. CDS Wafer’s Flat IPF Mapping Result ............................................................................................. 

Figure 3.5.19. Solar Cell Efficiency Using CDS Wafer ......................................................................................... 

Figure 3.5.20. Solar Cell Module Using CDS Wafer ................................................................................................ 

Figure 3.5.21. SSP Process Outline .......................................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.5.22. Silicon ribbon of 20 cm ..................................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.5.23. SSP Sheet Underwent Recrystalization Process ................................................................................ 

Figure 3.5.24. SSP Sheet’s Detailed Structure a.Top b. Section c. Bottom ............................................................ 

Figure 3.6.1. Thin Film Silicon Wafer Manufactured by DFT Technology .............................................................. 

Figure 3.6.2. DFT Wafering Technology Outline ..................................................................................................... 

Figure 3.6.3. Cleaving Stage Process Concept ......................................................................................................... 

SAMPLE 

Figure 3.6.4.Characteristics of DFT Wafer Manufactured by PolyMax and Solar Cell Manfactured by 

Conventional Wafer .................................................................................................................................................. 

Figure 3.6.5. Thin Film Wafer Manufacturing Technology Concept Using SLIM Method ...................................... 

Figure3.6.6. Solar Cell I-V Property Using Wafer Manufactured by SLIM Method ................................................ 

Figure 4.1.1. p-Si Manufacturing Process Used in HSC ........................................................................................... 

Figure4.1.2. Semiconductor and Solar Cell p-So Manufactured by HSC ................................................................. 

Figure 4.1.3. p-Si Production Plant Currently Being Constructed in Burghausen, Germany ................................. 

Figure4.1.4. p-Si Production Plan of Wacker Chemi ................................................................................................ 

Figure4.1.5. Vertically Integrated Solar Cell Business Structure of REC ................................................................. 

Figure4.1.6. Moses Lake Construction ..................................................................................................................... 

Figure4.1.7. Silicon Production system from Raw Materials to Final Products and Business Filed of 

Tokuyama ................................................................................................................................................................. 


Jan’09


Figure4.2.1. p-Si Factory Currently Being Constructed in Saint Aubin, France ....................................................... 

Figure4.9. Solar Cell p-Si Manufactured by LDK .................................................................................................... 

Figure 4.2.2. Monocrystalline Silicon Ingot Manufactured by Emei ........................................................................ 

Figure 4.3.1. UMG-Si Manufacturing Process of Elkem Solar ................................................................................ 

Figure 4.3.2. NEDO Melting Refinign Method Outline ........................................................................................... 

Figure 4.3.3. Electron Beam Melting and Plasma Melting Concept ......................................................................... 

Figure4.3.4. Electron Bean Melting Equipment Developed by NEDO .................................................................... 

Figure4.3.5. Solar Cell p-Si Manufacturing Process Used by Solarvalue AG .......................................................... 

Figure4.16. UMG-Si Sold by Dow Corning ............................................................................................................. 

Figure5.1. Monocrystalline Solar Cell Silicon Ingot Growth Using Czochralski Method ....................................... 

Figure5.3. Polycrystalline Silicon Block Manufactured by PV Crystalox ................................................................ 

Figure5.4. M. Setek’s Monocrystalline Silicon Ingot and Wafer Manufacturing Process ........................................ 

Figure5.5. Monocrystalline Ingot and Wafer Manufactured by M. Setek ................................................................. 

Figure5-6. Business Department at Glomfjord Plant ................................................................................................ 

Figure5-7. REC Scan Wafer’s Ingot Formation Equipment and Polycrystalline Wafer ............................................ 

Figure5.8. WACKER SCHOTT Solar’s Busienss Field ............................................................................................ 

Figure5.9. MEMC’s Silicon Solar Cell Business Field ............................................................................................. 

Figure 5.10. Swiss Wafers AG’s HEM Equipment and Manufactured Polycrystalline Ingot ................................... 

Figure 5.11. SolarWorld’s Business Field ................................................................................................................. 

Figure5.12. Solar Cell Panel Using 180μm Polycrystallin Silicon Wafer ................................................................. 

Figure5.13. Ersol’s Production Capacity .................................................................................................................. 

Figure 6.1. p-Si Production & Capacity by Section .................................................................................................. 

Figure6.2. Solar Cell p-Si Demand/Supply Forecast ................................................................................................ 

Figure6.3. p-Si Price Forecast ($/Kg) ........................................................................................................................ 

Figure6.4. poly-Silicon Revenue ............................................................................................................................... 

Figure6.5. Siemens Method Manufacturing Cost Ratio ............................................................................................. 

SAMPLE 

Figure6.6. Manufacturing Cost Raito by Method ($/Kg) .......................................................................................... 

Figure6.7. poly-Silicon Capacity by Region .............................................................................................................. 

Figure6.8. poly-Silicon Production Forecast by Region ............................................................................................ 

Figure6.9. poly-Silicon Production Forecast by Region (2008,2012) ...................................................................... 

Figure6.10. poly-Silicon Production by Technology ................................................................................................ 

Figure6.11. UMG-Si Capacity .................................................................................................................................. 

Figure6.12. Ingot/Wafer Production ......................................................................................................................... 

Figure6.132. Wafer Revenue .................................................................................................................................... 

- End of report – 


Jan’09

Solar Grade-Silicon, Ingot, Wafer Technology and ... - Displaybank

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