Rice Hulls Convert to Solar-Grade Silicon

摘要

Thermal Technology, Santa Rosa, Calif., has developed a process that produces solar-grade silicon using rice hulls as the raw material. Matt Mede, Thermal Technology's president and CEO, presented his research at the Materials Challenges in Alternative & Renewable Energy Conference in Florida. According to Mede, producers of high purity photovoltaic silicon are expanding production to meet growing market demands. New technologies coming online are intended to produce photovoltaic-grade silicon at lower cost.