Maharishi Solar to set up Rs 200cr Silicon production plant

New Delhi, Dec 3 (UNI) Maharishi Solar Technology (MST) has announced plans to set up Rs 200-crore solar grade silicon production plant at Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh, using commonly available indigenous low cost raw material.

The production would use Photovoltaic (PV) technology for the first time in India.

''The plant would not only contribute to meet the solar energy requirement in the country but would also reduce the burden on the conventional sources of energy,'' company's President Ajay Prakash Shrivastava said.

With the solar energy industry registering an annual growth of 30 per cent, the most viable option for the manufacturers is to produce grade silicon on their own, he added.

The new PV technology that MST has acquired to produce the grade silicon requires low power. For instance, if the production of silicon traditionally required 1,000 megawatt (MW) of energy, with the PV technology the process would need just five MW, Mr Shrivastava explained.

The silicon produced can be used for single crystalline and mono crystalline or silicon film ribbon technology.

The cost of production of Silicon would be 40 dollar per kilogram, he pointed out.

UNI DKS SRS/PKS KN1600