Comments on: The silicon wafer industry http://cleanenergywonk.com/2006/07/17/the-polysilicon-wafer-industry/ Thoughts on Clean Energy Policy and Economics. Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:25:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: SolarForum24.de http://cleanenergywonk.com/2006/07/17/the-polysilicon-wafer-industry/#comment-17580 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:46:51 +0000 https://tomkonrad.wordpress.com/2006/07/17/the-polysilicon-wafer-industry/#comment-17580 really good

]]> By: Transmission Stocks.. not exciting enough? « EE/RE Investing http://cleanenergywonk.com/2006/07/17/the-polysilicon-wafer-industry/#comment-3013 Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:34:28 +0000 https://tomkonrad.wordpress.com/2006/07/17/the-polysilicon-wafer-industry/#comment-3013 [...] interesting parallel is my article on the polysilicon industry, which I wrote last July. At the time, only my regular readers read it, but in the last few months, [...]

]]> By: tomkonrad http://cleanenergywonk.com/2006/07/17/the-polysilicon-wafer-industry/#comment-2490 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 03:38:31 +0000 https://tomkonrad.wordpress.com/2006/07/17/the-polysilicon-wafer-industry/#comment-2490 I think it’s a bit pricy for my taste… I’d call it a “hold.” I think the news is now well out on the silicon shortage, and people are starting to find a way around it with thin film, etc. If silicon prices do crash in 2008, then watch out, MEMC.

On the other hand, demand for PV is bouyant, and there is a decent chance that all the supply coming on line in 2008-9 may actually be sucked up by the market, leading to little fall in price, while the silicon makers will be able to sell more volume, so the current price may be justified. But I sure liked it better at $30-35.

]]> By: Lisanne Pearcy http://cleanenergywonk.com/2006/07/17/the-polysilicon-wafer-industry/#comment-2488 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 01:34:40 +0000 https://tomkonrad.wordpress.com/2006/07/17/the-polysilicon-wafer-industry/#comment-2488 Tom, What to you think of MEMC at current prices? It has a PEG less than 1 and very high profitability… but I’m not sure, as you mention, how certain the growth rate going forward is, as it is constrained by the production capacity.

By the way, what is the raw material normally used for producing silicon wafers? Iknow it is quartz, but is it beach sand? Sandstone? Quartz from veins? Or can they start with really “impure stuff” like garden-variety granite? (I have a Ph.D. in geology, which is why I’m curious.)

Lisanne

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