Hoku Materials, Inc., a subsidiary of Hoku Corporation (NASDAQ:HOKU), today announced it has successfully produced polysilicon at its manufacturing facility in Pocatello, Idaho.
Operation of the plant is truly a milestone. Hoku first ran into financing issues in 2008, and has had to renegotiate numerous supply deals with customers and take significant pre-payments to string along construction. In September 2009, the future of the plant was secured when China’s Tianwei New Energy Holdings Co., Ltd took majority control of the company in exchange for a cash investment and debt financing.
Hoku plans to manufacture, market and sell polysilicon from the plant
for use in the production of photovoltaic solar cells. The company did not say when it will reach full commercial production, but the ramp-up is underay.
Hoku said it has completed a comprehensive commissioning protocol, culminating in production runs in a select number of its polysilicon reactors. The Company said the primary purpose of the testing was to confirm system integrity and validate operating procedures.
During five days of live reactor runs, Hoku utilized trichlorosilane purchased from third-party suppliers. This is the same product that the company plans to use during its initial commercial production runs this year.
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