Emerging Global Solar Polysilicon Producers

CalFinder Solar recently published a post on major solar manufacturers around the world and how the U.S. compared in the global PV and polysilicon market. That article focused on large, traditional solar manufacturers. But what about the little guys? In a market with so much demand and a shortage on supply, is there not room for new and emerging companies to fill the void?

Yes there is, although the majors still hold the vast majority of production capacity in their pockets. There is a decent handful of companies emerging, especially in silicon production, that plan to have significant production capacity over the next few years.

In a 2006 report, the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development published a report on the solar polysilicon industry. The report not only focused on major manufacturers, such as world leader Hemlock Semiconductor, but also on companies with plans to enter the market. These companies span the globe from Russia to China to Europe to the United States. Most of the companies are already involved at some level of solar cell production and are vertically integrating into the world of polysilicon production.

The companies with the most potential to have a significant impact in the near future include Elkem Solar (Norway), SolarValue (Germany), and a slew of Chinese companies. China, led by Suntech, is a world leader in solar cell production but had not yet integrated into polysilicon production. That has changed as several companies are online now, giving China the potential to become a major manufacturer by 2010.

Representing the United States, and based in Hawaii, is Hoku Scientific, a fuel cell company that diversified into the solar industry. They plan to both manufacture solar-grade polysilicon and solar cells. Hoku expects to be shipping polysilicon in 2009.

For a full list of emerging polysilicon producers, you can download the full report for free at prometheus.org.

Posted on June 17th in Solar News by Dan.