Dow Corning Corp. and its and Hemlock Semiconductor joint ventures have announced more than $3 billion of investment to provide materials to the solar technology industry. Primarily, the company will begin manufacturing high-purity monosilane, a specialty gas used to manufacture thin-film solar cells.
With the investment, Dow Corning will construct a new monosilane manufacturing facility in Hemlock, Mich., adjacent to Hemlock Semiconductor Corp.'s polysilicon manufacturing site. The companies will also expand Hemlock Semiconductor Corp.'s existing Michigan manufacturing facility and build a new site in Clarksville, Tenn., to increase manufacturing capacity for polysilicon. Construction of both the polysilicon expansions and the new monosilane site will begin immediately.
‘This significant investment to become a leading supplier of monosilane for thin-film solar technology will expand our feedstock offering and will further reinforce our position as a value-added material supplier to the solar industry,’ says Eric Peeters, global executive director of Dow Corning Solar Solutions.
SOURCE: Dow Corning
