Solar-wafer production capacity is set to expand in stages, reaching about one gigawatt per year by the end of 2012. This would require the production of 700,000 wafers per day, or eight wafers per second.

WACKER SCHOTT is planning to invest some €370 million, and hopes to create at least 700 new jobs. “We built the new facility in record time and are now ramping up solar-wafer production as planned,” explains Axel Schmidt, one of WACKER SCHOTT Solar GmbH’s two managing directors.

The joint venture between SCHOTT Solar and WACKER – the second largest hyperpure silicon manufacturer worldwide – combines the strengths of two pioneering companies: WACKER, a leading polysilicon expert, ensures a reliable supply of this scarce raw material.

SCHOTT Solar AG is a technology leader for solar cells and panels. “It is extraordinary that two longstanding technology companies in this sector commit to such a long supply chain,” explains Dr. Patrick Markschläger, the other managing director at WACKER SCHOTT Solar.

In Jena, the company only produces multicrystalline wafers. Whilst the classic wafer production route is taken there – cutting the silicon wafers out of large ingots once they have hardened – colleagues at WACKER SCHOTT Solar’s Alzenau site are using the EFG method (edge-defined film-fed growth), patented by SCHOTT Solar.

The EFG method makes it possible to manufacture solar cells with much less energy, as the hyperpure silicon is used more efficiently – a significant improvement for the environment.

This enables solar cell production that requires significantly less energy, as the hyperpure silicon is used more efficiently – a significant improvement for the environment. By the end of 2008, WACKER SCHOTT Solar aims to expand both sites’ total production capacity to 120 MW. It must produce top-quality wafers that are among the best in the world and do this at a competitive cost. WACKER SCHOTT Solar is well on its way to success – Jena will be very hot.