Exploring a polysilicon process route with Chinese characteristics

"Quality, cost, safety and environmental protection" are the key to competition in the polysilicon industry. Cultivating large enterprises and promoting large-scale production are effective means to face the competition from international giants.

In recent years, under the heavy pressure of "high energy consumption, high pollution, overcapacity" and various unfavorable conditions, my country's polysilicon companies have been working hard to continuously improve technology, reduce energy consumption, and reduce costs. They have perfected themselves amid suppression and formed a polysilicon process route with Chinese characteristics. The technology of several typical companies has reached the world's advanced level, and their production costs are capable of competing with the world's old polysilicon companies. At the same time, they provide basic raw material support for my country's photovoltaic industry, enabling China's photovoltaic industry to stand tall in the world and become one of the few industries in China that can compete with the world's developed countries.

The scale of the industry is expanding rapidly

Compared with 2005, the scale of the polysilicon industry has increased by more than 500 times, and the energy consumption per unit product has dropped significantly.

During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, my country's polysilicon industry developed rapidly. In 2005, China's total polysilicon output was 80 tons, accounting for 0.3% of the world's total output that year, which was insignificant. In 2010, China's total polysilicon output was 45,000 tons, accounting for 25% of the world's total output, second only to the United States, and meeting 50% of domestic demand.

Compared with 2005, the industry scale has increased by more than 500 times, the energy consumption per unit product has dropped significantly, and the number of new jobs in the photovoltaic industry and related industries has increased by more than 100 times, reaching about 500,000. Facts have proved that my country's polysilicon material industry has made outstanding contributions to national development. Although it has also experienced many twists and turns, for an industry that has just emerged, it should be encouraged more instead of "killing".

In recent years, the biggest change in the polysilicon industry is the change in perception. Regarding the "pollution" problem of polysilicon, the seven traditional polysilicon giants in the world are all in developed countries such as the United States, Japan, and Germany, which fully demonstrates that energy consumption and pollution are not a problem. From a technical point of view, there is no technical bottleneck in the environmental protection and pollution problems of polysilicon. Compared with other chemical companies, the "pollution source" of polysilicon is simple, easy to handle, and easy to control; the environmental pollution problems of polysilicon are more about management and awareness. The State Document No. 38 has made strict regulations on environmental protection issues, and the "Polysilicon Access Conditions" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also further clarified that the recovery of by-products through technical measures such as hydrogenation and comprehensive utilization, the formation of a closed-loop circulation process, and the recovery of by-products into polysilicon raw materials are also extremely beneficial to reducing the cost of polysilicon, so companies are also motivated to solve environmental problems. Now all polysilicon companies with a capacity of more than 1,000 tons have a beautiful environment and meet environmental protection standards.

At present, the development model of China's polysilicon industry is generally that enterprises rely on independent research and development and imported unit technology for integration. Newly built polysilicon enterprises or polysilicon enterprises after technological transformation already have internationally leading technology and equipment. In the future, the development of the polysilicon industry urgently needs relevant policy support: the top priority is to implement the "on-grid electricity price law" to clearly support the solar photovoltaic power generation industry; support independent research and development technology to further improve quality and reduce costs; support the development of common technology research in the polysilicon industry, such as detection methods, various specifications, standards, etc., to serve the entire industry; support advantageous enterprises to implement technological transformation or new production capacity, and give priority to filing and approval.