SBIR Phase I: Low-cost clean one-step production of solar silicon from natural quartzite

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是将光伏组件中的硅从4美分/W减少到0.8-1美分/W。除了显著降低硅价格外，这种新技术还消除了目前硅生产的安全和环境问题。降低光伏组件总成本将改善太阳能电池的使用，从而减少化石燃料的总体消耗。此外，由于这项新技术是零直接温室气体排放，用我们的新技术取代现有的制造工艺可以直接和立即对环境产生积极影响。该项目旨在开发一种新的熔盐电解工艺，该工艺只需两个步骤即可从99.7-99.9%纯石英岩（SiO2）生产太阳能硅，取代目前复杂的能源密集型五步工艺。 该工艺利用最先进的熔盐成分，具有抑制枝晶形成和盐捕获的新机制。该工艺可能以1.70美元/千克的价格生产4- 5 N纯度的硅，使用30千瓦时/千克，副产品为纯氧，直接温室气体（GHG）排放为零。4- 5 N产品纯度将足以用于定向凝固或直接晶锭/晶片生产，导致$2.20-2.70/kg太阳能级硅成本，即，比现在低75-80%。通过电化学选择、避免碳阳极污染的惰性阳极和固体硅产物中的低杂质溶解度，可以通过新方法实现这种纯度。本提案中要解决的技术问题/风险是盐捕获以实际生产致密和纯的产品，去除导致载流子寿命问题的更多电负性杂质（P，Fe），并利用磁流体动力学（MHD）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的评估被认为值得支持。影响审查标准。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be the reduction of silicon in PV modules from 4¢/W to 0.8-1¢/W. Besides considerable silicon price reduction, this novel technology removes currently presented safety and environmental concerns of silicon production. Decreasing the total PV module cost will improve access to solar cells, through which the overall consumption of fossil fuels could be reduced. Moreover, since this novel technology is zero direct GHG emission, replacing the current manufacturing processes with our new technology can positively affect the environment directly and immediately. This project will also advance the state-of-the-art in silicon manufacturing and provide a domestic source of PV quality silicon.This project aims to develop a new molten salt electrolysis process which can produce solar silicon from natural 99.7-99.9% pure quartzite (SiO₂) in just two steps, replacing a complex energy-intensive five-step process today. This process utilizes a state-of-the-art molten salt composition with a new mechanism for suppressing dendrite formation and salt trapping. This process can potentially produce silicon with 4-5N purity at $1.70/kg using 30 kWh/kg, with pure oxygen by-product and zero direct Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The 4-5N product purity would be sufficient for directional solidification or direct boule/wafer production, resulting in $2.20-2.70/kg solar-grade silicon cost, i.e., 75-80% lower than today. This purity through the novel process is achievable via electrochemical selection, an inert anode to avoid carbon anode contamination, and low impurity solubility in the solid silicon product. The technical issues/risks to be addressed in this proposal are salt trapping to practically produce dense and pure product, removing more electronegative impurities (P, Fe) that cause problems with carrier lifetimes, and utilizing magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) stirring to overcome stagnant electrolyte bath.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.