Solar Silicon
OOO “Solar Silicon” is a project that I2BF Venture Capital and Arbat Capital have jointly undertaken in the city of Irkutsk (Far East Russia). The goal of the project is to establish production of multicrystalline silicon (multisilicon) ingots. Multisilicon is a key feedstock for solar cell production.
Usually, multicrystalline silicon is produced from metallurgical grade silicon through an energy and component - intensive “Siemens Process”, which involves a chloride-silane purification stage. Solar Silicon however, is using a new technological method of multisilicon production, developed by the Irkutsk Institute of Geochemistry (http://www.igc.irk.ru/).
The method includes “direct” purification process in an arc furnace of high purity quartzite from one of the local Irkutsk Oblast mines. The “direct” method will allow 30-50% cost savings on each kilo of silicon produced.
