Yingli Starts Operation Of In-House Polysilicon Facility.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. says its in-house polysilicon manufacturing facility, Fine Silicon Co. Ltd. has begun commercial operation. Fine Silicon announced it has commenced trial production and reached certain key technology and operating milestones in December 2009.

With monosilane-based polysilicon manufacturing technology, the polysilicon plant, with a designed capacity of 3,000 metric tons per year is capable of producing solar-grade and electronic-grade polysilicon through energy-efficient and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, Yingli says.

Monosilane technology today is used to produce around 8 percent of all polysilicon. A small share of monosilane is used to produce a-Si thin-film solar cells. Crystalline silicon remains the main raw material for photovoltaics, as it is used to produce more than 80 percent of all solar cells.

Silicon industry of China demonstrates the highest growth rates in the world. It started from the first polysilicon production plant in Laeshan, designed in 2004 by Giprosintez. Today China produces almost half of all silicon produced in the world.

Today the first Russian polysilicon producing plant in being built in Usolye-Sibirskoye, Irkutsk region. Construction documentation for this plant was developed by Giprosintez. Start up of the first phase is scheduled for September.

Volgograd design institute Giprosintez is the only Russian company to provide the full complex of engineering services for polysilicon production facilities.