Photo energy (photovoltaics) is the transformation of solar energy with the help of semiconductor materials, the most common of which is polycrystalline silicon (99.9% pure). Crystalline silicon plates are used for solar batteries, constituting about 90% of the world market for solar cells. The remaining 10% is thin amorphous silicon film. Multilayered solar cells with concentrators account for less than 1%.
Silicon is the main material used in some strategically important industries (photo energy and microelectronics) and is the foundation for the development of nanotechnologies.
Depending on the product's purity, polysilicon can be of solar and electronic quality with the admixtures content respectively <1*10-7 and <1*10-11.
In the European part of Russia, solar cell manufacturers use imported polysilicon.
The only polysilicon production facility in Russia is the polycrystalline silicon plant FGUP Mining-Chemical Combine (part of State Corporation Rosatom) in Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory. The plant was opened on September 4, 2008 and currently produces 200 tons of polysilicon a year. However, when it reaches full capacity it will produce 4,000 tons of polysilicon a year.