August 13th, 2020
Category Principles of Solar Cell Operation
Mitsubishi Materials (www. mmc. co. jp) was created through the merger Mitsubishi Metal and Mitsubishi Mining & Cement in 1990. Polysilicon production is one of the activities in their Electronic Materials & Components business unit. The company has two production sites for polysilicon, one in Japan and one in the USA (Mitsubishi Polycrystalline Silicon America Corporation) and is a shareholder (12.25%) in Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation. With the expansion of the Yokkachi, Mie, Japan, polysilicon plant, by 1,000 tons in 2010, total production capacity was increased to 4,300 tons.
 A rigorous description of the band structure and charge carrier transport in amorphous silicon is a complex matter well beyond the scope of this handbook...Read More
Kumgang Korea Chemical Company (KCC) was established by a merger of Kumgang and the Korea Chemical Co. in 2000. In February 2008, KCC announced its investment in the polysilicon industry and began to manufacture high-purity polysilicon with its own technology at the pilot plant of the Daejuk factory in July of the same year. In February 2010, KCC started to mass – produce polysilicon, with an annual capacity of 6,000 tons.Read More
Tokuyama (www. tokuyama. co. jp/) is a chemical company involved in the manufacturing of solar-grade silicon, the base material for solar cells. The company is one of the world’s leading polysilicon manufacturers and produces roughly 16% of the global supply of electronics and solar grade silicon. According to the company, Tokuyama had an annual production capacity of 5,200 tons in 2008 and has expanded this to 9,200 tons in 2010. In February 2011, the company broke ground for a new 20,000 ton facility in Malaysia. The first phase with 6,200 tons should be finished in 2013.
A verification plant for the vapour to liquid-deposition process (VLD method) of polycrystalline silicon for solar cells has been completed in December 2005...Read More
LDK (www. ldksolar. com/) was set up by the Liouxin Group, a company which manufactures personal protective equipment, power tools, and elevators. With the formation of LDK Solar, the company is diversifying into solar energy products. LDK Solar went public in May 2007. In 2008, the company announced the completion of the construction and the start of polysilicon production in its 1,000 metric tons polysilicon plant. According to the company, the total capacity was 12,000 metric tons at the end of 2010, which will be increased to 25,000 tons in 2011. In 2010, polysilicon production was reported at 5,050 tons.Read More
REC’s (www. recgroup. com/) vision is to become the most cost-efficient solar energy company in the world, with a presence throughout the whole value chain. REC is presently pursuing an aggressive strategy to this end. Through its various group companies, REC is already involved in all major aspects of the PV value chain. The company located in H0vik, Norway, has five business activities, ranging from silicon feedstock to solar system installations.
In 2005, Renewable Energy Corporation AS (“REC”) took over Komatsu’s US subsidiary, Advanced Silicon Materials LLC (“ASiMI”), and announced the formation of its silicon division business area, “REC Silicon Division,” comprising the operations of REC Advanced Silicon Materials LLC (ASiMI) and REC Solar Grade Silicon LLC (SGS)...Read More
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (www. memc. com/) has its headquarters in St. Peters, Missouri. It started operations in 1959 and the company’s products are semiconductor-grade wafers, granular polysilicon, ultra-high purity silane, trichlorosilane (TCS), silicon tetraflouride (SiF4), sodium aluminium tetra – flouride (SAF). MEMC’s production capacity in 2008 was increased to 8,000 tons and to 9,000 tons in 2009 .Read More
GCL-Poly (www. gcl-poly. com. hk) was founded in March 2006 and started the construction of their Xuzhou polysilicon plant (Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon Technology Development Co. Ltd.) in July 2006. Phase I has a designated annual production capacity of 1,500 tons, and the first shipments were made in October 2007. Full capacity was reached in March 2008. At the end of 2010, polysilicon production capacity had reached 21,000 tons and further expansions to 46,000 tons in 2011 and 65,000 tons in 2012 are underway. For 2010, the company reported a production 17,850 metric tons of polysilicon.
In August 2008, a joint-venture, Taixing Zhongneng (Far East) Silicon Co. Ltd., started pilot production of trichlorsilane. Phase I will be 20,000 tons, to be expanded to 60,000 tons in the future.Read More
OCI Company Ltd. (formerly DC Chemical) (www. oci. co. kr/) is a global chemical company with a product portfolio spanning the fields of inorganic chemicals, petro and coal chemicals, fine chemicals, and renewable energy materials. In 2006, the company started its polysilicon business and successfully completed its 6,500 metric ton P1 plant in December 2007. The 10,500 metric ton P2 expansion was completed in July 2009 and P3 with another 10,000 metric tons brought the total capacity to 27,000 metric tons at the end of 2010. The debottlenecking of P3, foreseen in 2011, should then increase the capacity to 42,000 tons at the end of the year...Read More