CaliSolar deal validates Timminco’s Solar Grade Silicon

Dr. Eicke Weber endorses upgraded metallurgical silicon (UMG-Si) from Bécancour Silicon Inc. (BSI).

With TIMMINCO AND CALISOLAR JOINTLY ANNOUNCE SOLAR GRADE SILICON SUPPLY AGREEMENT on June 16, 2008, Timminco Limited (TSE:TIM) subsidiary, Bécancour Silicon Inc. (BSI), will supply CaliSolar, Inc., with 1700 MT (metric tons) of solar grade silicon or UMG-Si beginning in the third quarter of 2008 through December 2012.

Dr. Eicke Weber, a CaliSolar founder and Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, Germany, said:

CaliSolar, using BSI’s UMG Si, has made a major breakthrough in photovoltaic (PV) technology. The impact of UMG Si in this important, rapidly expanding market can hardly be overstated. By 2015, half of the world’s PV production could be based on the use of UMG Si.

Mr. René Boisvert, President and CEO of BSI said:

In their search for a solar grade silicon supplier, CaliSolar has done extensive tests with materials from many UMG Si producers and obtained cell efficiencies over 15% with our product.

The 15% UMG Si solar cell efficiency tracks comments made by CaliSolar CEO Roy Johnson in the PodTech.net series, Bringing Down The Cost of Photovoltaic Solar Cells - Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, from November 2007.

Here are the WIPO and USPTO patent applications for what I believe is the exclusive license from THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA:

(WO/2006/133163) INTERNAL GETTERING BY METAL ALLOY CLUSTERS
USPTO Patent Application Publication Number US 20060289091

OMG, this patent, one of eight (8) patent applications by CaliSolar to date, showed up just as I was writing this post:

USPTO Patent Application Publication Number US 20080157241
Semiconductor wafer pre-process annealing & gettering method and system for solar cell formation

Please see the post, Cool Earth Solar also at BIG Solar, for information on how to view USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) images.

This new patent application publication appears to include contributions from CaliSolar’s German research and development subsidiary, BerlinSolar GmbH, located in namesake Berlin, Germany.

CaliSolar matched $3.0 million in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds with $8.3 million in company investment for CaliSolar: Manufacturing High Efficiency Cells Using Upgraded Metallurgical Grade Silicon (Overview of SAI PV Incubator Awards) as part of the Solar America Initiative.

In my Google video, Professor Dr. Eicke Weber, Director Fraunhofer Institute für Solar Energy Systems ISE, presents "Research applied to industry" at the 4th European PV Industry Forum in Milan, Italy, during the 22nd EU PVSEC. UMG-Si is discussed in the course of this presentation.

I noticed this "Solar Summits Freiburg" conference series from October 22 – 24, 2008, regarding Silicon materials for photovoltaics in Freiburg, Germany, on the Fraunhofer ISE website.

Timminco Limited: O Canada! Solar Grade Silicon, Eh? – Part 2

Production capacity expansion and Landsbanki/Kepler presentation

Last Friday, February 22, 2008, the Timminco Limited (TSE:TIM) subsidiary, Bécancour Silicon Inc. (BSI), announced plans to expand annual solar grade silicon production capacity from 3600 MT (Metric Tons) to 14400 MT in Timminco Announces Expansion of Production Capacity for Solar Grade Silicon. This expansion is slated for completion by mid 2009 at a cost of about $65 million (I presume Canadian Dollars or CAD) and will establish BSI as the leading volume producer of solar grade silicon by upgrading metallurgical silicon (mg-Si).

As noted in this BSI presentation at the February 7, 2008, Landsbanki/Kepler Alternative Energies Conference and per Timminco Announces Commencement of Production of Solar Grade Silicon in Its New Facility, their first 1200 MT per year production line has reached nominal capacity and averages about 80% operating capacity since early January 2008. The second 1200 MT line began operation in early February 2008, and the third line was supposed to come online about now.

Analysis of the solar grade silicon by shipment shows continuous improvement in Phosphorous and Boron impurity levels. An independent lab (SHIVA Technologies) analysis of BSI’s solar grade silicon from the first production line found concentrations of less than 1 ppm wt (parts per million by weight) Boron with Phosphorous concentrations centered around 5 ppm wt.

I heard from an informed source that while some BSI customers blend the solar grade silicon material with polysilicon in a 1:1 ratio, others can produce working silicon solar cells with 100% BSI material. BSI announced four (4) long term customer contracts for High Purity Silicon and sampled 24 customers with 90 MT of solar grade silicon from the pilot plant in 2007. Since then, BSI has purchase orders for 2008 from four (4) new customers and claims the “High quality and cleanliness of material has enabled monocrystalline production”.

I have been searching for the patents related to BSI’s Silbec Process. It appears these have been moving forward and may be published soon.

René Boisvert, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bécancour Silicon Inc. (Silicium Bécancour Inc.), will be presenting on April Fool’s Day, April 1, 2008, at the 6^th Solar Silicon Conference in Munich (München), Germany, as part of the Photovoltaic Technology Show 2008 Europe.

All my arrangements are set, and I am looking forward to covering PHOTON’s Photovoltaic Technology Show 2008 Europe this April.

In a new Blog personal worst for lethargy, I posted the original Timminco Limited: O Canada! Solar Grade Silicon, Eh? – Part 1 about six months ago without follow up. Good thing the The Real Deal Blog by John Polomny covered Timminco developments per this search label, Stock of the Year Timminco vaults 25% on news.

Timminco Limited: O Canada! Solar Grade Silicon, Eh? – Part 1

Dr. Heinz C. Schimmelbusch now Chief Executive Officer in addition to Chairman of the Board

Released after the market close on Friday, August 24, 2007, Timminco Initiates Strategic Business Reorganization announced the reorganization of Timminco Limited (TSE:TIM) into separate Magnesium and core Silicon and Solar Silicon businesses and management realignments. Heinz Schimmelbusch was the CEO of Metallgesellschaft AG until an oil forward contracts and hedging scheme went awry in 1993.

For Solar Grade Silicon, the last news was Timminco Announces Ground-breaking for Becancour Solar Silicon Facility on July 30, 2007. Timminco began construction of the Bécancour Solar Silicon Facility consisting of three production lines each yielding an expected minimum of 1,200 metric tons of Solar Grade Silicon per year. The first line should begin operation in the fourth quarter of 2007 with the second and third lines coming online in the first quarter of 2008. Solar Grade Silicon capacity should then ramp to an annual run rate of at least 3,600 metric tons per year by the second quarter of 2008.

Timminco entered the silicon metal (metallurgical silicon) business in earnest with the acquisition of Bécancour Silicon Inc. in September 2004. The Bécancour Silicon Inc. (BSI) subsidiary has 50,000 metric tons of silicon metal and ferrosilicon production capacity per year. BSI’s customers for silicon metal are purported to include five of the largest silicon and polysilicon producers in Western Europe.

In March 2007, BSI announced their entry into the solar grade silicon market with TIMMINCO LIMITED ANNOUNCES FIRST COMMERCIAL CONTRACT FOR HIGH PURITY SILICON. At this time, BSI disclosed it had developed a patent-pending process to produce 99.999% (5N or 5 nines) pure silicon for solar applications and had 300 metric tons of annual pilot production capacity in place. The contract with an unnamed solar cell manufacturer was for shipments of over 4,000 metric tons of high purity silicon over a 5 year initial term. A few weeks later, TIMMINCO LIMITED ANNOUNCES SECOND COMMERCIAL CONTRACT FOR HIGH PURITY SILICON:

Becancour Silicon Inc.(“BSI”), has reached agreement to sell high purity silicon to a solar cell manufacturer. The agreement provides for a minimum of 1,500 metric tons (“mt”) and up to 5,000 mts over an initial term of 5 years subject to BSI’s increased production capacity and customer agreement.

By May 31, 2007, TIMMINCO LIMITED PROVIDES UPDATE ON ITS SOLAR GRADE SILICON METAL BUSINESS said 20 metric tons of solar grade silicon had been delivered to the two contractual customers and as solar grade silicon samples to potential customers.

I first heard of Timminco Limited at the PV Industry Forum 2007 from Carolina Vargas, a Research Analyst with Clarus Securities Inc. Since then, Ms. Vargas has shared an investment research report on Timminco titled “Here Comes the Silicon” published May 9, 2007. In the report, Clarus initiated coverage on Timminco:

with a BUY recommendation and a 12-month target price of $6.00 [Ed. Note: CAD] per share. We recommend risk-tolerant investors own shares of Timminco to participate in its tremendous growth opportunity as a silicon supplier to the solar industry.

Please note that Clarus Securities helped to underwrite the April 2007 TIMMINCO LIMITED ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF BOUGHT DEAL FINANCING, and I do not know if follow up client research has been released by Clarus.

In Part 2, I will examine the relationship between Timminco, Safeguard International, and AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V.

I must have had my head in the quartz to have missed this company for so long! René Boisvert (now President and Chief Executive Officer), Bécancour Silicon Inc., presented “The Silbec Process for the production of solar grade silicon” at the PHOTON EXPO 4th Solar Silicon Conference.