Design and Scale-up of Solar Grade Silicon production

Elkem Solar shall during the next 5 years become the world's leading supplier of solar grade silicon (SoG-Si) feedstock for the photovoltaic industry. This ambitious goal require a series of efforts from all parts (scientific, technical, marketing, etc.). In the present project, the silicon ingot casting and subsequent block cutting are identified as key process bottlenecks. The main objective of the present project is, therefore, to achieve an efficient scale-up of the casting process leading to low cost and large volume production of SoG-Si. This goal is to be attained through the use of designs and casting procedures with the lowest possible solidification and cooling times, while maintaining crack free cast material and equipment. These designs and pr ocedures shall be developed through the incorporation into the process scale-up of the use of the scientifically based approaches and mathematical modelling tools. The project will lead to unique modelling tools that will enable Elkem Solar to carry out their future process and product development with the efficiency required to take the lead in the demanding PV market. As part of the Project, a PhD candidate will be educated.