Wafers into solar panels
IBM has announced a semiconductor wafer reclamation process, pioneered at its Burlington fabrication plant in Vermont. The process uses a pattern removal technique to turn scrap semiconductor wafers into a form suitable for the manufacture of silicon based solar panels.
According to the company, the reclamation process can efficiently remove IP from the wafer’s surface, making them available either for reuse as ‘monitor wafers’ in house or for sale to the solar cell industry.
“One of the challenges facing the solar industry is a severe shortage of silicon, which threatens to stall its rapid growth,” said Charles Bai, chief financial officer of ReneSola, a Chinese solar energy company. “This is why we have turned to reclaimed silicon materials sourced primarily from the semiconductor industry to supply the raw material our company needs to manufacture solar panels.”
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, 250,000 wafers are started each day around the world. IBM estimates that up to 3.3% of those are scrapped, amounting to some 3million scrap wafers a year.
