Low-Cost Solar-Array Project. Quarterly progress report, April-June 1980

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5171088· OSTI ID:5171088

The overall objective of the LSA Silicon Material Task is to establish a chemical process for producing silicon at a rate and price commensurate with the production goals of the LSA project for solar-cell modules. As part of the overall Silicon Material Task, Union Carbide developed the silane-silicon process and advanced the technology to the point where it has a definite potential for providing high-purity polysilicon on a commercial scale at a price of $14/kg by 1986 (1980 dollars). This work, completed under Phases I and II of the contract, provided a firm base for the Phase III Program (initiated in April 1979) aimed at establishing the practicality of the process by pursuing the following specific objectives: (1) design, fabricate, install, and operate an Experimental Process System Development Unit (EPSDU) sized for 100 MT/yr to obtain extensive performance data to establish the data base for the design of commercial facilities; (2) perform support research and development to provide an information base usable for the EPSDU and for technological design and economic analysis for potential scale-up of the process; and (3) perform iterative economic analyses of the estimated product cost for the production of semiconductor-grade silicon in a facility capable of producing 1000 MT/yr. This process for preparing semiconductor-grade silicon in the EPSDU from metallurgical-grade (M-G) silicon is based on a well-integrated arrangement of purification steps that provides a cost-effective process system. The three basic steps entail converting M-G silicon to trichlorosilane, redistributing the trichlorosilane to produce silane, and thermally decomposing the silane to form amorphous silicon powder. The powder is then melted and the molten silicon is cast to polycrystalline for subsequent use in fabricating solar cells. Progress is reported in detail. (WHK)

• Research Organization: Union Carbide Corp., Sistersville, WV (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: NAS-7-100-954334
• OSTI ID: 5171088
• Report Number(s): DOE/JPL/954334-80/15
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360601 -- Other Materials-- Preparation & Manufacture
AUXILIARY SYSTEMS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
CONTROL
COST
DECOMPOSITION
DESIGN
DIAGRAMS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FLUIDIZED BED
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INSTALLATION
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PROCESS CONTROL
PROCESS DEVELOPMENT UNITS
PROCUREMENT
PRODUCTION
PYROLYSIS
QUALITY CONTROL
SAFETY
SEMIMETALS
SILANES
SILICON
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPECIFICATIONS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES