STTR PHASE I: Plasma Processing of Agricultural Waste into Photovoltaic Silicon

小型企业技术转移研究(STTR)第一阶段项目将调查从高硅含量的农业废弃物中生产硅烷气体(SiH4)和光伏级硅(Sipv)的情况。目前的太阳能电池生产正在与提炼SIPV或其更有价值的气体前光标SiH4的巨大成本和复杂性作斗争。人们相信，通过氢等离子体施加电磁能量可以打破SiO_2键，并直接从较低品位的硅和农业废弃物中提纯SiH_4。与目前的技术相比，这是一个巨大的进步，目前的技术需要使用剧毒的化学中间体和复杂的资本密集型系统。利用国内可再生资源以更低的成本创造SIPV和SiH4，将使对新兴太阳能技术的投资更加积极和多样化。这将有助于推动美国走向国家独立和环境清洁的能源，在经济和国家安全方面都会产生广泛的积极影响。

The Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project will investigate the production of silane gas (SiH4) and photovoltaic-grade silicon (Sipv) from high silicon content agricultural waste. Current solar cell production struggles against the tremendous cost and complexity of refining Sipv or its more valuable gaseous pre-cursor SiH4. It is believed that the application of electromagnetic energy via a hydrogen plasma can be used to break SiO2 bonds and refine SiH4 directly from both lower grade silicon and from agricultural waste. This is a vast improvement over the current technique which requires the use of highly toxic chemical intermediaries and complex and capital intensive systems. Creating Sipv and SiH4 at lower cost from domestically available renewable resources will enable more aggressive and diverse investment in emerging solar energy technologies. This will help move the US toward nationally independent and environmentally clean energy, providing a broad positive impact both in terms of economy and national security.