Solaicx customized its ingot-growing equipment because it believed conventional solar producers were relying on crystal growers designed for semiconductor manufacturing—and that approach could leave an ingot with uneven resistivity. The company’s alternative continuously fed silicon and dopant into the melt under computer control as the crystal grew. EDN described the process and Solaicx’s claims in 2009; they were not independent performance test results.
Why adapt semiconductor equipment for solar?
Silicon ingots are grown by forming a crystal from molten silicon. EDN’s 2009 report described the conventional approach as melting silicon and dopants in a crucible, touching a seed crystal to the melt, then slowly pulling the seed as the crystal forms.
Solaicx co-founder John Sedgwick said conventional solar ingot makers were using production equipment designed for the semiconductor industry. The company developed its own process and equipment for solar ingots, with a focus on controlling material composition during growth. EDN’s March 26, 2009 report is the source for this account.
How Solaicx said its process worked
In EDN’s description, the conventional method could allow the silicon-to-dopant ratio to change along an ingot, producing variation in resistivity from one part of the ingot to another. Sedgwick said impurity levels ordinarily increased as an ingot was pulled from the melt.
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Solaicx’s reported response was to keep adding fresh silicon and dopant to the crucible while the ingot grew. Computer control was intended to maintain a consistent ratio of the two materials. The company said this made resistivity more consistent across wafers cut from the ingot. That is Solaicx’s reported performance claim, not an independently verified comparison in the available account.
What Solaicx reported about production capacity
EDN reported the following figures for Solaicx in 2009. The 300-megawatt figure was a projection for 2010, not confirmation that the capacity was reached.
| Figure | What it described |
|---|---|
| 12 growers | Solaicx’s reported number of growers in 2009. |
| 60 megawatts annually | Reported annual output of solar-cell material in 2009. |
| 48 additional growers | Potential expansion space reported by the company, not installed equipment. |
| 300 megawatts annually by 2010 | Solaicx’s projected capacity, as reported in 2009; the figure does not establish actual 2010 production. |
What happened to Solaicx?
MEMC announced that it completed its acquisition of Solaicx on July 2, 2010. The acquisition announcement verifies the transaction, but does not establish what later happened to Solaicx’s specific equipment or process. The 2009 report should therefore be read as a historical account of the company’s approach, not evidence that Solaicx still operates independently or sells that machinery.
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Solar-specific ingot equipment today
Solar manufacturing remains a distinct equipment category, but current supplier descriptions do not establish a connection to Solaicx or continuity of its technology. For example, CETC Solar Energy describes turnkey solar ingot and wafer production lines, while Siemens describes automation solutions for solar production machines using the Czochralski process.
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These are different scopes—production lines versus automation—not a like-for-like performance comparison. A manufacturer evaluating equipment would need to compare the specific growth process, degree of customization, throughput, installation requirements, and support offered for its production needs. The cited supplier information does not provide common specifications or comparative performance data to rank the options.
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