Bernreuter Research has warned that next-generation polysilicon production techniques should not be over-hyped.

Fluidised bed reactor (FBR) offers manufacturers lower electricity and production costs. REC Silicon announced plans to investUS$244 million for a 49% stake in a joint venture with China’s Shaanxi Non-Ferrous Tian Hong New Energy Co. The pair will build an FBR facility with a capacity of 19,000MT annually.

“FBR technology will definitely gain significant market share," said Johannes Bernreuter, head of Bernreuter Research, which estimates that the technique could double its share from 8% in 2012 to 16% in 2017.

Despite this, he warned that the promising process would need time to bed in at new plants.

"Silicon deposition in an FBR is not easy to control. We expect teething problems at the new plants," said Bernreuter.

These concerns are being borne out at a 10,000MT plant in development by GCL-Poly. According to Bernreuter, the site’s planned completion of Q1 2014 has now been pushed back to the second half of this year. The company has been carrying our research and development work for four years.�