Solar: Doing the Dirty (PV grade silicon supplies)

[jpak]

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=20157&hed=Solar%3A+Doing+the+Dirty

SolarWorld on Thursday said it established a joint venture with Scheuten Solarholding to turn dirty metallurgical-grade silicon into high-purity solar-grade silicon.

The company claims the announcement marks the first time in Germany that purification of metallurgical silicon for solar power is being implemented on an industrial scale.

But while a number of companies are pursing the purification of metallurgical-grade silicon for solar, at least one analyst says it doesn’t make sense in light on the large amounts of new polysilicon expected to hit the market in the next few years.

“There’s no reason to go to metallurgical silicon,” said Jesse Pichel, a vice president and senior research analyst of technology at Piper Jaffray.

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