There is a host of participants in the ongoing race to manufacture and produce inexpensive solar cells. To that list add solar start-up CaliSolar. The Sunnyvale-based company has raised $102 million to manufacture solar cells from metallurgical, or “dirty,” silicon. Hudson Clean Energy Partners, a private equity firm focused on renewable energy and alternative fuels, has led funding for the project.

Essentially, CaliSolar’s “crystallization” process upgrades metallurgical silicon so that it will perform at efficiency levels rivaling polysilicon – the most common semiconductor material. Metallurgical silicon is less efficient and cheaper than higher-grade polysilicon. But, if CaliSolar can upgrade “dirty” silicon to compete with polysilicon in efficiency, then they will have a cheaper solar cell.

Interest in metallurgical silicon derives from the silicon shortage the industry is currently experiencing. That shortage should be alleviated within the next couple of years but, should the solar industry continue on its current road, the need for silicon, even “dirty silicon,” will only increase. Large solar producers are investing in a wide range of solar start-ups, who are pushing a wide range of solar innovations, all toward the goal of affordable solar power. CaliSolar’s “dirty” silicon technology is but one part of the movement. The question is: Where will it finish?

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Posted on November 17th in Solar Products by Dan.