IBM Develops New Way To Reuse Scrap Silicon

November 13th, 2007

IBM claims it has discovered a way to recycle silicon wafers used in its computer chip manufacturing operations. Big Blue’s earth-friendly initiative would turn the chips into solar panels.The new reclamation process uses a specialized pattern-removal technique that was pioneered at IBM’s Burling, Vermont manufacturing facility. The process recently won the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable’s “2007 Most Valuable Pollution Prevention Award.”

“One of the challenges facing the solar industry is a severe shortage of silicon, which threatens to stall its rapid growth,” Charles Bai, CFO of ReneSola, one of China’s fastest growing solar energy companies, said in a statement. “This is why we have turned to reclaimed silicon materials sourced primarily from the semiconductor industry to supply the raw material our company needs to manufacture solar panels.”

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