IF YOU GET THE SILICON, YOU GET THE SOLAR

Solar World: Silicon score for ersol
Leah Krauss, March 22, 2007 (UPI)

WHO
Germany's ersol Group, a solar cell manufacturing company.

WHAT
- ersol contracted for a major supply of globally scarce silicon, making it possible for the company to predict an output of about 300 megawatts peak of crystalline solar cells.
- The crystalline solar cells are ultra-thin versions of conventional photovoltaic panels. They use less silicon, like thin film solar cells, but are 3 percent more efficient.

WHEN
The increased output is expected to begin in 2009 and extend over the subsequent 9 years.

WHERE
The supply would feed ersol’s plants in Arnstadt, Erfurt and Camarillo in California.

WHY
- The contract brings the company one step closer to its capacity goals. It also uses optimized technology to boost the output of solar grade silicon, reducing the costs per watt peak.
- Silicon scarcity is one of the major reasons detractors say solar energy costs too much.

QUOTES
- Worldwide demand for solar energy stands at about 5 gigawatts, but silicon constraints mean the market can only supply just under half that amount, according to "The Gun Has Gone Off," a summer 2006 survey of the solar energy industry by analyst Michael Rogol.
- Erik Thorsen, the president and chief executive officer of the Norwegian silicon supplier Renewable Energy Corp., [said]: "For 2006 ... there are roughly 13,000 to 15,000 tons of high-grade silicon available…Probably the demand (from solar companies) is twice the current supply."
- "Thin film will be the future…The thin film guys will be the big winners, since they can sell product below silicon producers cost and make money," J. Peter Lynch, an expert on solar energy stocks, said.