According to Dow Corning (Midland, Mich.), PV 1101, derived from metallurgical silicon that exhibits good solar cell performance characteristics when blended with traditional polysilicon feedstock, is the first commercially available feedstock produced from such technology using large scale manufacturing processes.

With a purity level well above 99 percent, Polysilicon is one of the most pure materials on earth. Both the semiconductor and solar industries require polysilicon that is extremely pure. However, the material used in the production of solar cells can be slightly less pure than that used to make semiconductors.

For years, the solar industry has relied primarily on material created for the semiconductor industry that did not quite meet semiconductor industry purity specifications. However, the explosive growth of the solar industry in recent years has dramatically increased polysilicon consumption, resulting in a shortage of material available to both industries.

The solar industry is expected to consume about 35 percent of all polysilicon sold this year. That industry's increasing consumption of the material is seen as a challenge that could curb semiconductor industry growth, a Japanese analyst said in June.

Dow Corning does not claim that PV 1101 will alleviate the polysilicon shortage. According to Gaetan Borgers, director of Dow Corning's Solar Solutions unit, the company views the introduction of the material as an important first step to reducing the supply-demand chasm.

"The gap is so huge that we just hope to provide some help," Borgers said. "We hope that can bring an alternative solution that will help the [solar] industry to grow further. As far as we are concerned, this is just the first step. We need to start somewhere."

Borgers said silicon ingot producers will likely need to go through a learning and familiarity curve with the new material. "The nice thing is that we have the capability to expand quickly above what we have. We hope that with the first unit we can get the feet of everyone wet and quickly more supply on stream."

According to Borgers, the introduction of PV 1101 marks the first time that a material has been designed strictly for solar industry silicon production. The feedstock is designed to be mixed with existing silicon feedstock, enabling silicon producers to create longer ingots from the same production equipment. The resulting material, however, will not meet semiconductor industry purity requirements, according to Borgers.

Dow Corning said the PV 1101 blend material has already been tested in independent institutes and at several customer production sites. The testing showed that the blended feedstock material exhibits performance characteristics similar to polysilicon in terms of solar cell manufacturing and efficiency, the company said.