Startup shipping high purity silicon samples from pilot plasma reactor

Sweden's Green14 is sampling material from its pilot reactor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The pilot has a 100 kW plasma capacity with 5 kg/h of silicon.

Green14, a Sweden-based startup company has built a pilot reactor to refine silicon and silane based on its novel hydrogen plasma technology at Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

The batch production process with 100 kW plasma capacity can produce 5 kg/h of high-purity silicon, or the same amount of silane.

“Our goal is to optimize the energy required to produce high-purity silicon and silane at scale. By the end of this year, we aim to achieve a stable production of 5 kg/h, aligning with our plasma system's nominal 100 kW power requirement,” Adam Podgorski, Green14 CEO, told pv magazine. “What sets us apart is our ability to produce silicon in melt form, refinable to solar-grade purity, but also our capability to produce silanes directly from quartz, bypassing the conventional chlorination route.”

The company is generating samples for future customers with the “purity levels required for commercialization,” according to Podgorski who added that his company's go-to-market strategy is to license the production technology to existing polysilicon and silane manufacturers.

Green14’s reactor primary output and byproducts are adjustable. “We have the flexibility to adjust the reactor to produce only monosilane for battery applications, if required,” Begüm Ucun, Green14's pilot lead and senior process engineer, told pv magazine.

In the meantime, her team is characterizing samples and working toward configuration optimization. “Our focus is not only on material output but also on validating our numerical models through coupled thermal systems and precise measurement tools,” said Ucun. “Data collection is key to ensuring the efficiency and accuracy of our process.”

Based on the results of the pilot, a milestone decision will be made about a demonstration production site in Q3 2025. “For us to invest in a full demonstration line, envisioned to be operational by 2027, we need to validate the pilot’s configuration and secure confidence in its scalability,” said Podgorski.

Green14 aims for cost-competitiveness and a “carbon footprint that is 95%” lower than today's processes. An aspect of its sustainability is feedstock flexibility. “We are committed to using lower-grade silicon feedstocks to reduce reliance on newly mined resources,” said Podgorski, adding that there is also potential for use of recycled PV panel material.

The pilot plant at KTH is expected to run for approximately five years, continuing after a demonstration site is built. It will provide an R&D support to improve production processes. “Additionally, we will explore how our technology can be applied to other critical raw materials beyond silicon – such as copper, aluminum, nickel, and rare earth elements like neodymium,” said Podgorski, indicating initial screening trial of such materials to begin shortly.

Green14, which was founded in 2021, recently raised €2 million ($2.18 million) from Netherlands-based Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer. The financing round included “a royalty-based model” with the option to procure silicon in an offtake contract.