A better way to make solar-grade silicon
My Clean Break column this week, beyond pointing out some of the frustrating growing pains related to small-scale renewable energy systems, looks at one Mississauga, Ont.-based company called 6N Silicon Inc. that’s trying to improve the way solar-grade silicon is made and help address an industry supply problem. The company claims its method of purifying silicon is much cheaper than conventional approaches, largely because it uses less energy. 6N also claims it can set up production plants much faster and produce silicon at purity levels that deliver good-enough efficiency to solar-cell makers, which are struggling to find silicon supply. The company has received $6 million in venture capital funding so far, on top of $4 million from Sustainable Development Technology Canada to develop a pilot production line for its process.
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
