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

小企业技术转让研究（STTR）第一阶段项目将研究从高硅含量的农业废物中生产硅烷气体（SiH4）和光化学级硅（Sipv）。目前的太阳能电池生产与精炼Sipv或其更有价值的气态前体SiH4的巨大成本和复杂性作斗争。据信，通过氢等离子体施加电磁能可用于破坏SiO2键并直接从低级硅和农业废物中精炼SiH4。这是对现有技术的巨大改进，现有技术需要使用剧毒化学中间体和复杂且资本密集的系统。从国内可再生资源中以较低的成本生产Sipv和SiH4将使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.