Generation and Characterization of High Performance PV Silicon

Current silicon photovoltaic solar panels are mostly produced from refined silicon, which must be of a required purity that is acquired through energy intensive and costly processes. Our industry partner, Ubiquity Solar Inc. is developing manufacturing process which will ultimately require less energy and cost and will also produce silicon of high purity with a physical structure that produces superior performance in photovoltaic applications. This project will study various solvents and processing conditions to improve the product refining process to produce silicon with the least amount of impurities. Furthermore, it will also study the mechanical properties of manufactured rods and develop computer models which incorporate underlying mechanisms causing these flaws, leading to optimization of processing conditions which minimize these flaws.

Faculty Supervisor:

Chandra Veer Singh;Mansoor Barati;Kinnor Chattopadhyay;Glenn Hibbard

Student:

Partner:

Ubiquity Solar Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Toronto

Program: