1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for producing high purity silicon.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The wide-spread use of silicon solar cells for terrestrial power generation is limited at the present time primarily because of high costs. These high economics can be substantially reduced by developing alternative, low costs manufacturing processes used for the production of silicon solar arrays including the step of processing raw materials to produce high purity liquid silicon. Of several known processes for producing high purity silicon in a high capacity and low cost manner, a key step is the reduction of a silicon halide by a suitable metal reductant to produce liquid silicon and a gaseous halide of the reductant. The energy required for the reduction is provided by an arc heater which may be of the self-stabilizing, alternating current type as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,705,975 and 3,832,519.