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Suppliers of solar panels can't keep up with demand for cheaper energy(Ventura County Star (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Mar. 11--Solar energy has become so hot that suppliers of the main component in solar panels can't keep up with demand. Homeowners, businesses and organizations such as Ojai's Camp Ramah in California, are covering their roofs with silicon solar panels, while Shell Solar is selling its silicon-based solar business, including a Camarillo plant, to seek alternatives. Meanwhile, another solar company bought a silicon recycling business in Camarillo to secure more supply. More than 90 percent of the world's solar cells rely on silicon, which also is used in the integrated circuits used in computers, cell phones and all sorts of electronics. Competition for the chemical element began heating up in 2004 as demand for solar energy surged with increased government subsidies. "We had supply problems throughout 2005, worsening an already difficult situation," Tim O'Leary, external affairs manager for Shell Renewables & Hydrogen, said in an e-mail. He said the conditions to get more silicon were "aggressive and not acceptable." "The silicon dependence of crystalline will remain a challenge to the industry and, as such, Shell has decided to focus on next generation technologies," O'Leary said. Interest in solar power has been increasing as people look for ways to control energy costs. Some homeowners have seen their electrical bills increase 40 percent over the last year, said Scott Reed of Solar Electrical Systems in Westlake Village. "That's just sending shock waves through anybody who pays attention to a utility bill," Reed said. "On the residential side, the economics are so strong right now, you could pay for a system in the first year. Business is booming." For Camp Ramah, the new solar panels going on the dining room roof teach campers about the Jewish tradition of stewardship of the world. There's also rebates offered by the state of California. A $500,000 gift financed the first phase of the project, which should provide power from 25 percent to 30 percent of the camp's electricity needs, said Rabbi Daniel Greyber. When the $1.3 million project is completed, energy costs are expected to be reduced by 75 percent, a savings of about $75,000 a year, he said. "As a rabbi and religious leader, I think that we have an obligation to care for God's world," Greyber said. "As an American, I also think the more this country frees itself from oil dependence, the better our future is going to be as a country that is existing in a global world where oil dependence hasn't served us well." Solar power has received a boost since President Bush announced in his State of the Union address that the nation needs to move away from fossil fuel dependency. In 2004, 79.6 percent of U.S. energy production came from fossil fuels. Nuclear electric power made up 11.7 percent, and renewable energy accounted for 8.7 percent. Solar power made up 1 percent of renewable energy produced and 0.09 percent of the nation's total energy production. Those numbers belie the fact that worldwide solar cell production saw a huge increase in 2004 as more government subsidies were offered. That, coupled with more overall demand from various industries, drove up prices in 2005, according to a report from Piper Jaffray analysts. The report predicts more of the same this year. "I've seen this market where you couldn't give the stuff away for $5," said Rob Bushman, former president and now consultant for Silicon Recycling Services Inc. in Camarillo, which was sold to ErSol Solar Energy AG at the end of February. "Today, you can't get enough and sell it for $50." SRS takes unusable silicon and processes it for solar cells. In the past two years, the company has turned over several hundred tons of silicon a year. Bushman said the shortage has increased business, but scrap silicon is harder to find. Until recently, the solar power industry has been able to meet supply needs with scrap from the high-tech industry. Silicon is abundant in the environment but has to go through a process that highly purifies it and refines it for use in things such as computer chips. But Bushman said the world capacity for silicon in mid-2004 was about 30,000 metric tons, with 22,000 metric tons going to the semiconductor industry. That left about 8,000 metric tons for the solar industry. He said the solar industry will need about 16,000 tons this year. Production has increased, but it will take time before it is up to meeting demand. Also, semiconductor companies are getting into the solar business, keeping their scrap material for themselves, Bushman said. Walter Kohn, a Nobel Laureate in chemistry and research professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, produced a film on solar energy. He witnessed the shortage first hand when a supplier couldn't provide solar panels for his home. He had to turn to a different company. Kohn said it is an embarrassing situation for the industry. "It is my impression that the solar cell industry globally did not foresee that they would run out at this time," he said. "I think the growth is more rapid than they have expected." Some are faring better than others. Solar Electrical Systems does a high-volume business, warehouses solar panels and works directly with the manufacturers, limiting effects of the shortage, Reed said. However, some smaller businesses have suffered. "It's causing industry consolidation," Reed said. "We're seeing smaller, weaker firms not able to weather the storm." Some manufacturers are trying to secure new supplies. ErSol's purchase of SRS gives it more exposure in the U.S. and access to more silicon, which the company expects will increase solar cell sales starting in the second half of this year. Alternatives also are getting a closer look. Instead of silicon-based solar cells, Shell is focusing on a different kind of solar technology called Copper Indium di-Selenide, or CIS. Shell sees benefits to the CIS technology that go beyond raw material supply. Production is easier and more cost-effective, O'Leary said, and the technology creates solar cells that work well in low light and have a smooth, dark appearance. Shell just introduced the Eclipse80, the first CIS module to be certified under international standards. Camarillo handles some CIS production with about 100 employees, though the future of that part of the plant is part of Shell's negotiations for a joint venture with Saint-Gobain, which produces glass and building materials. O'Leary said he could not comment on what would happen to the CIS line in Camarillo while negotiations continue. Entrepreneurs also are seizing on possibilities. Greyber's brother-in-law, Joe Lichy, has started NuEdison in San Jose. The company is creating solar cells that use about 60 percent less silicon by focusing light onto a smaller piece of silicon. Silicon is the dominant cost in a solar panel, Lichy said. In a release sent out announcing the Shell Solar purchase, SolarWorld officials said they expected the supply issue to resolve "in the near future." The plants will operate at about 50 percent capacity, coming up to full capacity by 2008. Kohn calls the shortage a "temporary planning glitch" that will be remedied. He predicts demand will continue to increase, possibly reaching from 25 percent to 35 percent of all electricity used globally by the middle of this century. More suppliers already are producing specifically for the solar industry to meet demand, Lichy said. "Solar is not going to be able to rely on the scrap market again," he said. ON THE NET: --http://www.shell.com/solar --http://www.solarsilicon.com --http://www.ramah.org RECENT DEALS --Shell Solar is selling its silicon business to SolarWorld AG, including its Camarillo plant. The deal is expected to close by the end of March. SolarWorld will receive the Camarillo site, another plant in Washington state, two facilities in Germany and sales operations in Germany, Singapore and South Africa. SolarWorld will become the top maker of solar equipment in the United States when the deal is finalized. The companies are not disclosing the price of the deal. Shell Solar's roughly 300 silicon cell employees in Camarillo will become SolarWorld employees. --ErSol Solar Energy AG bought Silicon Recycling Services Inc. in Camarillo at the end of February. SRS started in 1996 and has facilities in Camarillo and China. The companies are not disclosing details. ErSol is paying the purchase price with less than one-fifth of its IPO proceeds of about 117 million euros. SRS's 40 employees will become ErSol employees. SOLAR CELLS: Solar cells are like batteries. They have a positive and a negative side, and they can channel absorbed sun energy through metal connectors to whatever a panel is plugged into. At Shell Solar in Camarillo, solar panels are made two ways: --Single-crystalline silicon Purified silicon is melted down and used to grow a single crystal, which is then shaped and sliced to create silicon wafers. Each wafer is about the size of a piece of toast. The wafers are doped with phosphorous to create a permanent electric field in each wafer. On the negative side, which will face out of the module toward the sun, a silver-based metallic paste is used to screen print a thin grid to leave as much of the silicon exposed as possible. The grid blocks as little sunlight as possible while maximizing energy production. An aluminum-based metal grid is screen-printed on the back of the cell, which creates the positive contact. After testing the cells with artificial sunlight, they are grouped by their electrical output and sent on to be incorporated into modules. Metal ribbons are woven between cells so the front of one cell is connected to the back of another. The weaving creates a string of solar cells, which are arranged together. The resulting set of cells is layered with glass, a sheet of adhesive sealant, the solar cells, another sheet of sealant and a back sheet. The whole set is run through an oven where it is cured, the clear glue melts and seals it into a single unit that is set into an aluminum frame and joined to the box that draws the electricity out of the solar module. --Copper Indiumdi-Selenide thin film Panes of 1-foot by 4-foot ordinary window glass are cleaned and then sent through a "sputtering" machine, which deposits a shiny metal layer onto the glass, giving it a mirrored appearance. This layer becomes the base of the solar cell. A laser scribes the mirrored surface, separating the metal layer into 42 "cells." A coating of copper, indium and gallium is then sputtered onto the mirrored surface. In cylindrical gas furnaces, the mirrored plates are individually stacked and heated for 10 hours. The chemical reaction within the furnace forms the CIS layer. This solid sheet of CIS is then re-scribed to separate the CIS layer into 42 cells. A thin layer of zinc oxide, both transparent and conductive, is added to the top and serves as the electrical contact, which completes the electrical circuit. The completed circuit is then laminated, and a junction box is attached to complete the solar module. It is then tested, boxed and shipped. Source: Shell Solar |