Amg status of solar grade silicon industry

Company Confidential
Copyright © 2010 AMG

AMG Advanced Metallurgical
Group N.V.

Status of Solar Grade Silicon Industry

John R. Easoz

2010 China International Silicon Conference &
Photovoltaic Industrial Development Forum

Xuzhou, September 16, 2010

1

Disclaimer Company Confidential

THIS DOCUMENT IS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL AND IS BEING PROVIDED TO YOU SOLELY FOR YOUR INFORMATION BY AMG ADVANCED
METALLURGICAL GROUP N.V. (THE “COMPANY”) AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM OR FURTHER DISTRIBUTED TO ANY
OTHER PERSON OR PUBLISHED, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, FOR ANY PURPOSE. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY
CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF APPLICABLE SECURITIES LAWS.

This presentation does not constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy or acquire securities of
the Company or any of its subsidiaries nor should it or any part of it, nor the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract or
commitment whatsoever.

This presentation has been prepared by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company. This document, any presentation made in conjunction herewith and any
accompanying materials are for information only and are not a prospectus, offering circular or admission document. This presentation does not form a part of, and
should not be construed as, an offer, invitation or solicitation to subscribe for or purchase, or dispose of any of the securities of the companies mentioned in this
presentation. These materials do not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States or an invitation or an offer to the public or form of application to
subscribe for securities. Neither this presentation nor anything contained herein shall form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any offer or commitment
whatsoever. The information contained in this presentation has not been independently verified. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to, and no
reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy or completeness of the information or the opinions contained herein. The Company and its advisors are under no
obligation to update or keep current the information contained in this presentation. To the extent allowed by law, none of the Company or its affiliates, advisors or
representatives accept any liability whatsoever (in negligence or otherwise) for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this presentation or its contents or otherwise
arising in connection with the presentation.

Certain statements in this presentation constitute forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's financial position, business strategy, plans
and objectives of management for future operations. These statements, which contain the words "believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intends,” “estimate,” “forecast,”
“project,” “will,” “may,” “should” and similar expressions, reflect the beliefs and expectations of the management board of directors of the Company and are subject to
risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among other factors, the achievement of the anticipated
levels of profitability, growth, cost and synergy of the Company’s recent acquisitions, the timely development and acceptance of new products, the impact of competitive
pricing, the ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals, and the impact of general business and global economic conditions. These and other factors could adversely
affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein.

Neither the Company, nor any of its respective agents, employees or advisors intend or have any duty or obligation to supplement, amend, update or revise any of the
forward-looking statements contained in this presentation.

The information and opinions contained in this document are provided as at the date of this presentation and are subject to change without notice.

This document has not been approved by any competent regulatory or supervisory authority.

2

Agenda Company Confidential

 Introduction
 AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group
 AMG Conversion

 Solar grade silicon
 Introduction
 Silicon purification techniques
 Manufacturing processes (Elkem, 6N Silicon, Timminco)
 Impact of impurities

 Quality improvements
 Ingot yield
 Cell efficiency
 Inclusions
 Breakdown voltage
 Light-induced degradation

 Manufacturing costs & electricity consumption

 Conclusions
3


 Introduction
 AMG Conversion

 Introduction

 Ingot yield
 Cell efficiency
 Inclusions


 Conclusions
4

Introduction to AMG Company Confidential

 Listed on NYSE-Euronext Amsterdam (Euronext: AMG)

 2009E revenue of $0.9 billion (2008 revenue of $1.3 billion)

 Products
 High purity metals and complex metal products
 Vacuum furnaces used to produce high purity metals

 Global presence AMG
 Europe
100.0% 100.0%
 Germany, UK, France, Norway
Advanced Engineering Publicly Traded
 Americas Materials Systems Investments

 US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil  Vanadium & Vacuum Furnaces 79.5%
Titanium Graphit Kropfmühl
 Asia  Tantalum &  Titanium (GKR.DE)
Lithium Nuclear
 China, Japan

 Silicon Metal
 Aluminium  Solar  Graphite
 Chrome  Superalloys
42.5%
 Antimony  Specialty Steel Timminco Ltd.
Coatings  Heat Treatment (TIM.TO)
 2,500 employees 
 Other  Silicon Metal
 Solar Grade Silicon

Technology-driven specialty metals company
5

Introduction to AMG (cont’d) Company Confidential

AMG provides specialty metals and capital equipment to growing end markets

Advanced Materials Engineering Systems
AMG Materials AMG Engineering
 High value alloys  Capital equipment for high- performance
 Essential raw materials materials

 Wayne, PA headquarters  Hanau, Germany headquarters
 11 plants in 7 countries  8 facilities in 5 countries
 4 mines in 4 countries
 1,587 employees  684 employees

6

AMG Solar Activities Company Confidential

Company Product Solar Use AMG
Ownership
Raw material for polysilicon, solar
Timminco Silicon metal1 42.5%
grade silicon

Timminco Solar grade silicon Raw material for silicon ingots 42.5%

Raw material for polysilicon, solar
Graphit Kropfmühl Silicon metal 80.5%
grade silicon
Equipment to produce silicon
ALD Vacuum Technologies DSS furnaces 100%
ingots
200 kW photovoltaic system
AMG Conversion (Ohio) Generation of electricity 100%
(under construction)
Zinc oxide /aluminum oxide Raw material for transparent
GfE 100%
sputtering targets conductive oxide layers for thin film
Solar grade silicon ingots, Raw material for silicon bricks,
AMG Conversion 100%
bricks, wafers wafers, cells

Timminco solar grade GK silicon metal chunks ALD DSS (SCU400plus) AMG Conversion 200 kW PV GfE AZOY® rotatable
silicon chunks System (Ohio) target

1On August 10, 2010, Timminco announced that it had agreed to form a joint venture with Dow Corning at its silicon metal production facilities in
Bécancour, Québec. Dow Corning will acquire a 49% equity interest in the joint venture that will own Timminco’s existing silicon metal operations.
7

Introduction to AMG Conversion Company Confidential

AMG Conversion produces multicrystalline silicon ingots, bricks, and wafers for the
solar industry

Metallurgical Solar Grade Cells &
Ingots Bricks Wafers
Silicon Silicon Modules

AMG Conversion’s goal is to accelerate the development of solar grade silicon to enable
customers to manufacture solar cells using solar grade silicon that are indistinguishable from
those made with polysilicon

8

AMG Conversion – Products Company Confidential

Ingots Bricks Wafers

 835 x 835 x 250 ±5 mm  157 x 157 ±0.5 mm  156 x 156 ±0.5 mm
 400 ±10 kg  Height based on customers  200 ±20 μm
specifications

9


 Introduction
 AMG Conversion

 Introduction

 Ingot yield
 Cell efficiency
 Inclusions


 Conclusions
10

Silicon & Impurity Contents Company Confidential

Silicon Product Category Impurity Content

Semiconductor Grade

Solar Grade (SoG Si) /
Upgraded Metallurgical Grade (UMG Si)

High Purity Grade

Metallurgical Grade (MG Si)
ppmw 104 102 1 10-2 10-4

Based on information gathered on PV industry…

Semiconductor Grade Silicon Solar Grade Silicon

 High investment costs  Low investment costs (1/10th to 1/5th of poly)
 Long construction lead times  Shorter construction lead times (1/4th to 1/3rd of poly)
 High electricity consumption  Low electricity consumption (1/4th to 1/2 of poly)
 Well-known material and manufacturing processes  New material not yet fully adopted by market
 Low impurities lead to high ingot yields and high cell  Higher impurities, yet cell efficiencies >16% can be
efficiencies achieved
 Prices can be very volatile

11

Silicon Production & Purification Company Confidential

Traditional /
Siemens Trichlorosilane Chemical Vapor
HSiCl3 Deposition Polysilicon
(TCS) (CVD)

Fluidized
Bed Fluidized Bed
Metallurgical Silane
SiH4
Deposition Polysilicon
Silicon (FBD)

Metallurgical
Refining Various Processes:
Solar Grade
Slag Treatment, Leaching,
Oxidation, Casting Silicon

12

Solar Grade Silicon Purification Techniques Company Confidential

Acid Leaching Directional Solidification

 Treating of metallurgical grade silicon with acids (HF,  Segregate impurities in the melt during crystallization
HCl) to dissolve metal clusters based on segregation coefficients
 Effective on metals but not on dopants (boron and  Impurities accumulate at the top of the ingot thus
phosphorus) purifying the bottom

Calcium Leaching or “Slagging” Oxidation

 Addition of calcium to silicon to bind and separate  Melt metallurgical grade silicon at high temperatures to
impurities in the slag separate impurities in the slag or as gases
 The slag phase can be separated from the “clean” molten  Effective with boron removal
silicon phase

Reduction of High Purity Silica by High Gas Blowing Through Melt
Purity Carbon

 Similar process used for standard metallurgical grade  Blow gases (O2, Cl2, CO2) through the melt to react with
silicon in arc furnaces dissolved impurities
 Requires clean silica (naturally clean or purified by  Volatile compounds are formed and removed from the
leaching), high purity carbon, purified electrodes melt

13

Selected Solar Grade Silicon Manufacturing Processes Company Confidential

Metallurgical Slag Solidification/ Post
Leaching
Silicon Treatment Segregation Treatment

In-house 3 sequential purification steps to reduce impurities Ingot cleaned/sawed

Metallurgical
Dissolution Crystallization Washing Growing
Silicon

Al/Si Melt Water + Acid Gas

Oxidation in Solidification
Metallurgical with
Rotary Electromagnetic
Filtration Cleaning
Silicon
Furnace Stirring

In-house 3x oxidation/solidification sequence

Sources:
- Elkem Solar: Status and future outlook, 6th Solar Silicon Conference, Munich, 2008
- 6N Silicon: Solar Silicon in a Dynamic Market!, 7th Solar Silicon Conference, Munich, 2009
- Timminco: Public presentations, 2009-2010
14

Impurities in Silicon Company Confidential

Category Example Impact
Dopants Boron,  Resistivity
Phosphorus,  Important to have n, p dopants well controlled to maximize ingot resistivity
Gallium yield (net carrier concentration determines resistivity)
 Need to minimize boron
 No detrimental effects on LID or lifetime due to gallium
Metals Iron, Copper,  Metallic impurities can limit cell efficiency by recombination
Nickel,  Bulk metal concentration inversely proportional to minority carrier lifetime
Aluminum  High metal impurities can decrease breakdown voltage and ohmic shunting
 High iron concentrations can contribute to LID
Alkali-Metals Lithium,  Corrosion of crucibles during crystallization
Sodium,  Crucibles integrity becomes compromised – can lead to run outs
Potassium  Primarily problem with slag treatments where AM > 10 ppmw
Other Carbon,  Inclusions
Oxygen,  High carbon and nitrogen concentrations will lead to SiC/SiN inclusions
Nitrogen that will reduce yield because of non-waferability (can cause wire breaks)
 Inclusions/precipitates can cause breakdown voltage issues and result in
module hot spots during shaded conditions
 Need to minimize oxygen diffusion into melt during casting
 Need to maximize oxygen removal through mixing during casting

15

Impact of Dopant Concentration/Compensation1 Company Confidential

6.0 4.00 6.0 4.00
B (ppma) B (ppma)
5.5 5.5
P (ppma) P (ppma)
3.50 3.50
5.0 Resistivity 5.0 Resistivity

4.5 3.00 4.5 3.00
B and P Concentration (ppma)

B and P Concentration (ppma)
4.0 4.0
64% 84%

Resistivity (ohm cm)

Resistivity (ohm cm)
2.50 2.50
3.5 3.5

3.0 2.00 3.0 2.00

2.5 2.5
1.50 1.50
2.0 2.0

1.5 1.00 1.5 1.00

1.0 1.0
0.50 0.50
0.5 0.5

- 0.00 - 0.00
- 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 - 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Fraction Solid Fraction Solid

B = 0.6 ppmw B = 0.6 ppmw
P= 1.8 ppmw P= 1.4 ppmw
64% yield 84% yield

→ Decreasing phosphorus from 1.8 to 1.4 ppmw increased yield from 64% to 84%
→ Average resistivity decreased
1 Theoretical example for illustration purposes
16


 Introduction
 AMG Conversion

 Introduction

 Ingot yield
 Cell efficiency
 Inclusions


 Conclusions
17

Quality Improvements Company Confidential

Areas of focus for quality improvements with SoG Si / UMG:

1. Ingot yield (p-type resistivity and lifetime)
2. Cell efficiency
3. Inclusions
4. Breakdown voltage (cells)
5. Light-induced degradation (cells)

 Understanding of downstream processing in the rush to market the material in times
of high polysilicon prices

 In 2009 and 2010, polysilicon prices returned to “normal” levels and SoG Si demand
crashed
→ Forced SoG Si manufacturers to focus on more clearly defining customer
specifications and quality parameters

→ Significant quality improvements have been made to date

18

Focus Area #1: Ingot Yield Company Confidential

Goal: Obtain SoG Si ingot yield1 comparable to that of ingot made with
polysilicon

 Proper management of dopant levels in starting material, use of secondary dopant (i.e.
gallium), and optimized crystallization methods can be used to maximize ingot yield
 Typical ingot yield with polysilicon is 85% for 400 kg ingots

 AMG Conversion has achieved yields above 80% with 100% SoG Si

2.8
3.0 3.0
3.0 2.8
0.6 Ω-cm

2.4Ω-cm

0.6 Ω-cm
Top cut
Bottom cut

1.8 Ω-cm
Bottom cut

Top cut
0.6 Ω-cm

1.8 Ω-cm
Bottom cut

Top cut
Boron

2.4
2.5 Boron 2.5
1.8

2.5 Phosphorus Phosphorus
0.6 ohm-cm 0.6 ohm-cm
Resistivity (Ω-cm)

1.75

2.0
2.0 2.0

B & P (ppmw)
B & P (ppmw)

1.5
1.5 1.5

1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2

1.0
1.0 1.0
0.870.60
0.850.58

1.10
1.10

1.06
1.06

0.87
0.85
0.5
0.5 0.5

0.0
0.0 0.0
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Solidified fraction Solidified fraction

1 Ingot yield is defined as waferable ingot height (based on resistivity and lifetime) / original ingot height
19

Focus Area #2: Cell Efficiency Company Confidential

Goal: Produce SoG Si cells with cell efficiency comparable to that of cells
made with polysilicon

 Several cell process modifications have been explored to improve efficiency
 Phosphorus gettering (during standard diffusion) remains the most effective
 With extended gettering processes, cell efficiencies comparable to those made with
polysilicon with identical processes
 Extended diffusion can be performed in standard cell lines with minimal impact on cost

 AMG Conversion has achieved cell efficiencies over 16% using 100% SoG Si from
Timminco, comparable with polysilicon cell efficiency performance in the same cell
lines
16.1%
15.9%
Average cell
efficiency at AMG
Conversion1

Standard Extended
1Cells made at International Solar Energy Research
Center Konstanz (ISC) from AMG Conversion wafers
Gettering Gettering 20

Focus Area #3: Inclusions Company Confidential

Goal: Produce SoG Si ingots with inclusion concentration comparable to
that of ingots made with polysilicon

 High concentrations of C and N in the feedstock can lead to the formation of SiC and SiN inclusions
 Inclusions cause electrical breakdown and losses in slicing due to wire breaks/saw marks
 SoG Si manufacturers must either reduce carbon in their source material, or remove contaminants
with methods such as oxidation, or filtration
 Filtration techniques have been utilized to reduce carbon impurities
 Casting techniques to improve impurity segregation, and vacuum removal during ingot crystallization are
very effective

 AMG Conversion has successfully achieved inclusion free ingots using 100% SoG Si,
resulting in slicing yields comparable to those obtained with polysilicon feedstock

IR image of IR image of
brick showing brick showing
a high number no inclusions
of inclusions

21

Focus Area #4: Breakdown Voltage Company Confidential

Goal: Produce SoG Si cells with breakdown voltage comparable to that of
cells made with polysilicon

 As ingot yield and resistivity are tradeoffs with SoG Si material, users tended to push
resistivity to lower levels <0.5 ohm-cm to increase yield
 While reasonable cell efficiencies were obtained, breakdown voltage issues arose due to
higher impurity concentrations in the base material.
 Module/cell producers compensated for the breakdown voltage problem by adding diodes
to modules to prevent overheating in partially shaded conditions.
0
 AMG Conversion can reduce metallic -2
impurities, SiC precipitates, and net dopant -4 wafer no 082

Reverse Current [A]
concentration and achieve acceptable -6 wafer no 110

breakdown characteristics, while -8
wafer no 116
wafer no 128
maintaining high ingot yield -10
wafer no 132
-12

-14
 No module design changes should be -16
required -20 -18 -16 -14 -12 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0
Reverse voltage [V]

22

Focus Area #5: Light-Induced Degradation (LID) Company Confidential

Goal: Produce SoG Si cells with LID comparable to that of cells made with
polysilicon

 LID is roughly proportional to [boron] and [oxygen]2
 LID can be improved by:
 Reducing boron and oxygen contents in feedstock
 Limiting oxygen diffusion in melt during casting
 Using a proper casting technique to remove oxygen during crystallization
 LID in multicrystalline polysilicon wafers vary from 0.1 to 0.4% relative
 LID in monocrystalline polysilicon wafers typically 0.5 to 0.6% relative

 AMG Conversion can achieve LID of 0.2-0.3% relative, comparable to multi poly

0.8-1.8% Feedstock
LID improvements Purity
at AMG Conversion 0.5-0.8% Casting
Technique 0.5-0.6%
0.2-0.3% 0.1-0.4%

3Q 2009 1Q 2010 2Q 2010 Multi Mono
Source: Management 23


 Introduction
 AMG Conversion

 Introduction

 Ingot yield
 Cell efficiency
 Inclusions


 Conclusions
24

Manufacturing Costs Company Confidential

 Polysilicon production costs using Siemens process vary with:
 Manufacturer experience
 Equipment quality
 Process quality
 SoG Si production costs vary with:
 Process types
 Impurity levels

→ SoG Si typically holds a cost advantage…
…but only if the material can produce cells of equivalent quality!
→ Most customers will require an economic incentive to adopt a new product
$80
Indicative
Industry $60
Manufacturing
Costs1 $40
($/kg)
$20

$0
Polysilicon SoG Si
1 Based on Management’s knowledge of the industry participants. Manufacturing costs can vary widely based on capacity utilization and yields.
25

Electricity Consumption Company Confidential

 In March 2010, the Chinese government announced (No. 38, State Council):
 Steel, cement, glass, chemical, and polysilicon industries are suffering from overcapacity
and must reduce energy consumption
 New polysilicon projects with less than 3,000 mt annual capacity have been targeted

 New energy consumption standard of less than 200 kWh/kg (for comprehensive energy
consumption) and 60 kWh/kg (for reduction process) to be issued by end of 2010

 The new standard would eliminate many small inefficient polysilicon plants
200-250

110-130
Indicative
Electricity
Consumption1 40-70
(kWh/kg)

Polysilicon Polysilicon SoG Si
“Low Yield” “Best in Class”
1 Based on Management’s knowledge of the industry participants. Electricity consumption can vary widely based on yields.
26

Potential Partnerships in China Company Confidential

 AMG Conversion is looking for partners to:

 Provide wafer tolling services
 Establish cell production capability by testing and development of cost effective
processes for cell and modules made with SoG Si
 Develop alternative crystallization techniques to further improve material performance
 Develop customer relationships for high efficiency/low cost cell products

Inclusions

27


 Introduction
 AMG Conversion

 Introduction

 Ingot yield
 Cell efficiency
 Inclusions


 Conclusions
28

Conclusions Company Confidential

 SoG Si manufacturers have made several improvements to address customer concerns

 Today’s best SoG Si has the following characteristics:
 Low boron and phosphorus concentrations in the proper ratios to produce high ingot
resistivity yields
 Carbon contents low enough to eliminate inclusion formation and have no negative
impact on cell breakdown voltage or slicing yield
 Oxygen contents low enough to not cause atypical LID
 Metals contents low enough to not cause lifetime/cell efficiency/breakdown issues

 While some companies are making good progress, quality differs widely among producers
 Market acceptance is possible, but remains an issue due to historical perspectives
 Continued cost reduction and quality improvement is necessary to drive market penetration

→ Low-cost and high quality SoG Si is an attractive alternative to polysilicon even
under current poly pricing conditions
→ In the event of higher material silicon demand, SoG Si will continue to drive lower
cost photovoltaics

29


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Amg status of solar grade silicon industry

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