AE Polysilicon breaks ground on solar silicon plant in Pennsylvania
by Garrett Hering
Source; PHOTON International, April 2008
http://www.photon-international.com/news_archiv/details.aspx?cat=News_PI&sub=america&pub=4&parent=968
US-based solar-grade silicon start-up AE Polysilicon on Feb. 15 broke ground on a $100 million facility located outside Philadelphia at the Key International Port Complex. The facility will use fluidized bed reactor (FBR) technology to produce granular silicon.
The initial 1,800 ton facility is scheduled to start test production in late 2008 and commercial production in 2009. That‘s almost one year behind the original schedule. In Oct. 2006, AE initially signed a five-year contract with Taiwanese solar cell producer Motech Industries Inc. – an investor in the company whose CEO Simon Tsuo is the brother of AE Polysilicon CEO York Tsuo – for annual deliveries of up to 2,400 tons beginning in 2008 (see PI 5/2007, p. 105).
The now seven-year agreement has been amended to begin deliveries in early 2009, »in amounts to be increased to 2,500 tons of polysilicon per year by the end of 2011,« according to a statement by Motech. If all goes well, AE hopes to expand to 12,000 tons by 2010.
»We are very excited to locate in Pennsylvania, with its strong commitment to developing a clean energy economy and its skilled workforce,« said York Tsuo at the ground breaking. Pennsylvania offered the company over $7 million in low-interest loans and grants in addition to a 13-year tax holiday from most state and local taxes. The plant will be the first solar silicon facility in the northeastern United States.