1Komma5° to develop solar module with silicon from own procurement

Hamburg, Germany-based energy systems provider 1Komma5° GmbH announces the development of a solar module under its own brand. The company’s goal is »to produce our own photovoltaic module exclusively with polysilicon from Europe or the USA.« The company wants to secure its own value chain »in view of the geopolitical decoupling from China.« According to 1Komma5°'s estimates, China controls about 70 percent of the world market for polysilicon, while »again and again, large quantities of the basic material indispensable for photovoltaics come from plants associated with the forced labor of thousands of political prisoners.«
1Komma5° did not provide any details, such as the time schedule, possible production partners, the specific origin of the polysilicon or the wafers made from it – the preliminary product of crystalline solar cells – and the exact technology of the modules.
According to estimates by the International Energy Agency, China does not control 70 percent of global polysilicon production, as stated by 1Komma5°, but rather around 80 percent. For wafers, the figure is as high as 97 percent. For this reason, non-Chinese silicon producers also supply the majority of their production to China, and production of modules with crystalline cells without basic materials from Chinese production is only possible in very small quantities that are not relevant for the world market, at least at present.
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