Elkem Solar AS announces 5,000-ton solar MG-Si plant –
as a first step

Ragnar Tronstad,
Vice President of Technology, Elkem Solar AS, Norway

Mr. Ragnar Tronstad finished a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1975, and later specialized in Catalysis and Thermodynamics at the Norwegian Institute of Technology and Science. 

In addition he holds a lower degree in Economics. Since 1993 he has been at Elkem, first as an R&D manager of the manganese division, then since 2001 at the solar division, where he first worked as an R&D manager and is now Vice President of Technology. From 1999 to 2001 he was an R&D manager at Eramet Norway.

Elkem Solar AS was established as a project in 2001. The main goal was to develop a metallurgical route for the production of silicon to solar cell industry. Since then a process has been developed and the product is tested and verified both at reference institutes and in industrial scale production. Process development has taken place in Elkem's own test facilities, and the most critical process steps are verified in industrial-sized equipment in addition to the bench and pilot scale tests. 

Elkem Solar decided in October 2006 to build a 5,000 ton plant for solar-grade silicon. Contracts are signed and the plant area is developing according to plan. The first shipment is expected in mid-2008. The plant is located in Kristiansand, Norway, and room for a second plant is already included.

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