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>Even with the precipitous drop in solar cell prices over the past few years they still aren't cheap. By what metric..? The amount of energy and power involve

>Even with the precipitous drop in solar cell prices over the past few years they still aren't cheap. By what metric..? The amount of energy and power involved in the two uses is completely different. Do you happen to know the bulk cost of silicon, or how much silicon is used in solar cells, or how much of a solar cells cost it makes up, or what process is similar? You're not doing much more than a kind of free association. For actual context, spheroidal graphite powder is up to $10,000/tonne[1] and metallurgical silicon is around a quarter of that[2]. [1] http://www.mining.com/web/battery-grade-graphite-set-for-record-year/ http://www.mining.com/web/battery-grade-graphite-set-for-rec... [2] https://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3208513/Silicon-prices-fall-on-low-demand-in-Europe.html https://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3208513/Silicon-prices...

jandrese 9y ago
The article states outright that they think they can make it to market quickly by leveraging Solar Cell production facilities. The bulk cost of silicon is a moot point. That's like asking how Pizzas can be made more cheaply if you reduce the cost of the flour involved. It's the extreme precision ultra pure processing that makes it expensive, not the bulk materials.
- hwillis 9y ago
  > It's the extreme precision ultra pure processing that makes it expensive, not the bulk materials. Batteries don't require 6N precision. Silicon anodes can be 99% pure and work fine. Metallurgical silicon is ~99.9%. Only the bottom shelf ferrosilicon stuff is <99%. My point is that you're making assertions that you don't fully understand. Why would batteries suddenly need extreme precision ultra pure processing? That doesn't make sense. > It's the extreme precision ultra pure processing that makes it expensive, not the bulk materials. That's my whole point. The expensive part is left behind because it doesn't have anything to do with batteries. The part that's left over is fancy sand and a mylar-making machine. The same machine used to make the very cheapest solar cells, the kinds in old calculators. The kind of machine that made the monitor you're reading this on. Not the 9N part.
- deleted 9y ago
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jandrese 9y ago

The article states outright that they think they can make it to market quickly by leveraging Solar Cell production facilities. The bulk cost of silicon is a moot point. That's like asking how Pizzas can be made more cheaply if you reduce the cost of the flour involved. It's the extreme precision ultra pure processing that makes it expensive, not the bulk materials.

hwillis 9y ago
> It's the extreme precision ultra pure processing that makes it expensive, not the bulk materials. Batteries don't require 6N precision. Silicon anodes can be 99% pure and work fine. Metallurgical silicon is ~99.9%. Only the bottom shelf ferrosilicon stuff is <99%. My point is that you're making assertions that you don't fully understand. Why would batteries suddenly need extreme precision ultra pure processing? That doesn't make sense. > It's the extreme precision ultra pure processing that makes it expensive, not the bulk materials. That's my whole point. The expensive part is left behind because it doesn't have anything to do with batteries. The part that's left over is fancy sand and a mylar-making machine. The same machine used to make the very cheapest solar cells, the kinds in old calculators. The kind of machine that made the monitor you're reading this on. Not the 9N part.
deleted 9y ago
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