Thursday, January 15, 2009

Hoku's Pocatello Plant Receives First Reactors

Hoku Materials Inc., the polysilicon-manufacturing subsidiary of clean energy technology firm Hoku Scientific Inc., reported Wednesday that its wafer-producing facility in Pocatello, Idaho, has received its first shipment of Siemens-process reactors. According to Hoku, the Pocatello facility has received six polysilicon reactors—two of which have been assembled and installed—out of a planned order of 28. The German-made reactors are used to produce polycrystalline silicon (also known as wafer silicon), which is in turn used in the fabrication of thin-film solar cells. Hoku added that a shipment of 10 polysilicon reactors is expected to reach Pocatello in March. Headquartered in Honolulu, Hoku Scientific also consists of Hoku Solar and Hoku Fuel Cells.