Comment Re:Production of Semiconductor-Grade silicon (Score 3, Informative) 100
DOH!! I hate to reply to myself, but I realized that I may not have made it clear. The carbothermal process that the article talks about is the process for making metallurgical-grade Si. This is a relatively cheap part of the overall semiconductor process which is overshadowed by orders of magnitude. The purification from 99.5-99.9% to 99.9999999% via all the chlorination and distillations is big, then the electrical costs of re-depositing solid silicon is HUGE by comparison. Then there's the cost of the wafer pulling and prep.
Bottom line: this will have almost no effect on semiconductor prices. Might be useful for solar, but that's doubtful also, because solar cells need better purity than metallurgical grade Si.
Solar cell producers regularly buy semiconductor byproduct material such as the semiconductor wafer cut-offs, and downgraded poly that doesn't meet semi spec.
Bottom line: this will have almost no effect on semiconductor prices. Might be useful for solar, but that's doubtful also, because solar cells need better purity than metallurgical grade Si.
Solar cell producers regularly buy semiconductor byproduct material such as the semiconductor wafer cut-offs, and downgraded poly that doesn't meet semi spec.
