RE:More validation PyroGenesis Announces that HPQ Silicon Signs Development Agreement with Solar Silicon Specialist Apollon Solar
09:23 EST Thursday, December 21, 2017
Exciting part of the news release for me!
Q: What else can you say about Apollon and the team?
A: It is important to realize, that in all this, Apollon is actually the first independent party to validate the innovation potential of the PUREVAP™ process. When reviewing the PUREVAP™ process, Apollon concluded that:
PUREVAP™ is a new metallurgical process (patent pending held by HPQ) for the production of solar grade silicon metal, and that it is a unique process, based on the innovative plasma technology that is at the heart of PyroGenesis’ expertise, and
The successful commercial application of the PUREVAP™ process will lead to the production of solar quality silicon at significantly lower costs compared to those of competing process technologies (examples include Siemens chemical process, Elkem Solar, Silicor Materials, etc.)
Without a doubt, future collaboration between HPQ, Apollon and PyroGenesis should increase the probability of success of the project. In this sense, Apollon brings two important elements to the team:
Firstly, the ability to achieve a higher level of vertical integration (from the extraction of raw quartz (SiO2) by HPQ all the way to the production of solar cells), and
Secondly, many years of innovative research and development work in the field of solar silicon and solar panels which complements the work already underway.
Q: From a practical perspective, how do you expect these benefits will be integrated into the project?
A: In the short term, we expect Apollon to provide immediate input into, and to help accelerate, the development phase of GEN-2 as well as to de-risk the design and testing of the pilot phase of the project (GEN-3). In the longer term, Apollon’s knowledge and expertise in solar panels will not only lend itself well to the integration of silicon produced by the PUREVAP™ technology into solar panels, but could eventually lead to HPQ becoming a vertically integrated producer of such solar panels.