Nuvosil AS Information

Recycling silicone from solar cell production in combination with aluminum - using 90% less energy at 40-50% lower cost than conventional alternatives Solar power plays an essential part in the global transition to renewable energy. However, solar wafer production faces a significant material efficiency problem: with current methods, only approximately 60% of the high purity silicone used in the manufacturing process go into the actual end product. The remainder is typically deposited at landfills or remelted into a low-grade product using energy-intensive methods. New and more efficient methods reducing this material efficiency gap is essential to reduce the footprint of solar cell production and push the industry towards a circular production model. Nuvosil’s Low Energy Recycling (LER) process recycles surplus silicon materials from solar wafer manufacturing. The process results in the Low Energy Master alloy, made with exclusively from recycled materials. The alloy consist of 70% silicon / 30% aluminum, and the silicon component is used in aluminium manufacturing as a replacement for conventional metallurgical silicon (MG-Si). The LER process has been developed as a collaborative effort between Nuvosil and leading aluminium manufacturer Hydro ASA, the German thermoplastic manufacturer Reifenhauser GmbH, and Austrian wet grinding technology specialist CEMTEC GmbH. Additionally, SINTEF and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have been involved as R&D partners throughout the development process. The Low Energy Recycling process is significantly more efficient than existing recycling methods, using 90% less energy and, as a result, saving between 40 and 50% in processing cost.