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

小型企业技术转让研究（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）和光伏级硅（Sipv）。目前的太阳能电池生产与提炼Sipv或其更有价值的气态前驱物SiH4的巨大成本和复杂性作斗争。人们认为，通过氢等离子体应用电磁能可以打破SiO2键，直接从低品位硅和农业废弃物中提炼SiH4。这是对目前技术的巨大改进，因为目前的技术需要使用剧毒的化学媒介和复杂的资本密集系统。利用国内可再生资源以较低成本生产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自主和环境清洁能源，在经济和国家安全方面都将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.