Cradle to Gate
Identity ID
b79f6076-b091-43e1-b8b5-2f3894942944
Materials
Associated ID
38ad30d2-7d0c-46f2-9c78-b26e868909cd
Included activities starts
Included activities ends
Description
High-purity polycrystalline silicon has a purity of up to 99. Purity exceeds 99.99%, suitable for manufacturing solar cells; this dataset includes primary raw and auxiliary material consumption, energy use, atmospheric emissions, waterborne emissions, and waste from production processes. Infrastructure such as production equipment and factory construction is excluded from the system boundaries of the dataset. The life cycle inventory data were compiled from multiple sources and partially corrected and updated based on average photovoltaic industry data from 2023. The upgraded Siemens process involves several stages, including trichlorosilane synthesis, distillation and purification of trichlorosilane, hydrogen reduction of trichlorosilane, tail gas recovery, and hydrogenation and separation of silicon tetrachloride.
Activity Description
The production process of the improved Siemens method includes steps such as trichlorosilane synthesis, distillation and purification of trichlorosilane, hydrogen reduction of trichlorosilane, tail gas recovery, and hydrogenation separation of silicon tetrachloride.
Process Description
High-purity polycrystalline silicon, derived from metallurgical-grade silicon and purified through physical or chemical methods to a purity exceeding 99.9999%, is used in the production of solar cells.
Time period
2011
2026
Geography
China
Macroeconomic value
Business-as-Usual
Data validation
Yes
Technology
Current Technology
Technology comment
The production process of the improved Siemens method includes steps such as trichlorosilane synthesis, distillation and purification of trichlorosilane, hydrogen reduction of trichlorosilane, tail gas recovery, and hydrogenation separation of silicon tetrachloride.