E!6406 SME collaboration on new processes and products for advanced solar cells and modules

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CleanSi is a start-up company that owns technology know-how in the field of production methods for cheap high quality silicon production. In the SolarTeam project, CleanSi will further develop these methods at the facilities of TotenMetal, an investor and potential customer of the CleanSi technology. The aim is to produce consistent high-quality solar grade silicon (SGS) silicon as feedstock for solar cells using a unique patented process where aluminium melt will be used to purify metallurgical grade sil icon (MG-Si) or quartz or kerf, which allows below ? 15 / kg production cost. The produced cheap high-quality material will be delivered to two potential customers of the material, TSC (A Netherlands based SME) and Solartec (Czech SME) that will assess t he material. The aim is to produce economically viable solar cells, based on CleanSi material, with efficiencies higher than 17% (as is the goal for Solartec and TSC). Both TSC and Solartec want to expand their market segments, by developing new process es and products. For this, they could use the new material from CleanSi, but this collaboration gives them another advantage: by collaborating in a European funded project, they will be able to work together with two leading research institutes in the fie ld, which they would not be able to afford on a bilateral basis. Hence, Solartec and TSC will develop innovative processes during the project, based on the assessment of the needs for the new material delivered by CleanSi. Toten Metall (TM) is a medium sized Norwegian enterprise which produces aluminum foundry alloys using scrap as raw material. TM drives on its high-tech and innovative production methods that enables them to compete on the highly competitive aluminum market. TM is looking for new busin ess opportunities and timing for entering in a renewable energy business was never better in an international effort to fight climate change.