Evonik and SolarWorld Open
New Solar Silicon Plant
Joint venture Evonik Industries and SolarWorld announce the opening of
a new solar silicon plant with a new production process and impressive
energy-saving features.
Evonik Industries and SolarWorld have officially opened their new solar
silicon plant in Rheinfelden (Baden, Germany). As part of the joint venture
Joint Solar Silicon (JSSI), the two companies are using an innovative
process in the new plant that enables energy savings of up to 90 percent
compared to conventional solar silicon production.
“With the opening of the plant, Evonik Industries is answering the worldwide
demand to increase the share of alternative energies further, such as
solar energy, in power generation,” says Dr. Alfred Oberholz, member of
Evonik’s Executive Board. The investment volume for the integrated production
network will range in the double-digit millions of euros.
JSSI is a joint venture of Evonik Industries AG, Essen (51 percent) and
SolarWorld AG, Bonn. “With JSSI, we are consistently expanding our activities
in raw materials supply,” says certified engineer Frank H. Asbeck, SolarWorld’s
chairman of the board, stressing the importance of the new plant for his
company. “We manufacture ultra-thin wafers from solar silicon, and process
them into solar cells and modules.” For Asbeck, one thing is certain:
“In a few years, solar power from your rooftop will be cheaper than power
from an electrical outlet.”
Michael Muller, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Environment
Ministry, welcomes the companies’ investment in Rheinfelden. “It’s good
that photovoltaics are taking us out of the niche and into comprehensive
industrial added value.”
The integrated production network includes an Evonik monosilane plant.
In the second plant in the network, JSSI takes the monosilane and uses
it to manufacture solar silicon. The Rheinfelden facility will start with
an annual production capacity of 850 metric tons of solar silicon.
Based on the steady international demand for solar power products, both
joint venture partners see a substantial market for the new technology.
The process was developed by JSSI in cooperation with leading universities.
Currently, the growth of the solar industry is still limited by low raw
material capacities. With the new plant, JSSI has come considerably closer
to satisfying this demand bottleneck and being able to supply the solar
industry with high-quality and inexpensive solar silicon.
Photovoltaics and construction of this plant supports one of the fields
of concentration identified by Evonik: "Today, energy efficiency
is one of the worldwide megatrends. With top technological products, Evonik
will contribute to safeguarding the energy supply while protecting the
environment and climate,” says Oberholz. Evonik is allocating up to two
billion euros for this purpose from 2008 to the end of 2010 alone. In
the Chemicals Business Area, which includes the site in Baden, Evonik
already offers numerous intelligent solutions that are helping to conserve
resources and reduce emissions.
Evonik has already been successfully involved in the booming photovoltaics
market for several years. As recently as 2007, the company signed a contract
for construction of an integrated production network with the French company
Silicium de Provence (Silpro). The network will produce up to 4,000 metric
tons of solar silicon per year. In May 2007, Evonik signed a long-term
agreement with PV Silicon, Erfurt, to supply Siridion® chlorosilane to
the production plant for 1,800 metric tons of solar silicon, which is
currently under construction in Bitterfeld.
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