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AE Polysilicon breaks ground on solar silicon

plant in Pennsylvania
April, 2008: US-based solar-grade silicon start-up AE
Polysilicon on Feb. 15 broke ground on a $100 million
facility located outside Philadelphia at the Key
International Port Complex.

The facility will use fluidized bed reactor

(FBR) technology to produce granular
silicon.

The initial 1,800 ton facility is scheduled

to start test production in late 2008 and
© AE Polysilicon Corp.
commercial production in 2009. That‘s
almost one year behind the original
Tight schedule: If AE
schedule. In Oct. 2006, AE initially
Polysilicon wants to meet
signed a five-year contract with
its new target to start test
Taiwanese solar cell producer Motech
production this year, it has
Industries Inc. – an investor in the
to hurry. Construction of
company whose CEO Simon Tsuo is the
the factory only started in
brother of AE Polysilicon CEO York Tsuo
February.
– for annual deliveries of up to 2,400
tons beginning in 2008 (see PI 5/2007, p.
105).
Please register PDFcamp on http://www.verypdf.com/, thank you.
The now seven-year agreement has been amended to begin
deliveries in early 2009, »in amounts to be increased to 2,500 tons
of polysilicon per year by the end of 2011,« according to a
statement by Motech. If all goes well, AE hopes to expand to
12,000 tons by 2010.

»We are very excited to locate in Pennsylvania, with its strong

commitment to developing a clean energy economy and its skilled
workforce,« said York Tsuo at the ground breaking. Pennsylvania
offered the company over $7 million in low-interest loans and
grants in addition to a 13-year tax holiday from most state and
local taxes. The plant will be the first solar silicon facility in the
northeastern United States.
Garrett Hering
© PHOTON International, April 2008

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