Australian made solar cells, page-26

An average 20kg solar panel contains 1/2 kg of silicon

A major new report from the CSIRO has mapped out how Australia can – and must – develop a domestic silicon and solar cell supply chain, from mining through to manufacturing, to support and de-risk its rapid shift to renewables.

The report, authored by PwC for the national science agency, finds that despite Australia’s world-leading role in solar research and development, and its world leading uptake of rooftop PV, its reliance on overseas supply chains remains a major weak spot.

“Australia already has the highest per capita deployment of rooftop solar in the world, and there are several mega-projects in the solar development pipeline,” says CSIRO senior principal research scientist Chris Vernon.

“But one of the greatest risks to Australia’s solar ambitions and energy future is our reliance on overseas supply chains for solar cell technology.”

The report says production of silicon in Australia is the first step to breaking this dependence on overseas markets, and creating a buffer against the sort of supply chain disruption seen during the Covid pandemic.

The report says that while silicon is abundant in Australia in the form of quartz, currently this is shipped overseas – predominantly to China – where it is smelted to silicon, then to high purity silicon.

Around 70 per cent of silicon is produced in China, while China also dominates the production of polysilicon. But CSIRO believes it doesn’t have to stay this way.