Upgrade of the hot zone for large-size high-performance multi-crystalline silicon ingot casting

Abstract Casting larger silicon ingots by upgrading the hot zone is one of the main methods used to reduce the cost of multi-crystalline silicon wafers. In this paper, a new hot zone is designed and a transient global model is applied to investigate the effects of the new hot zone on the electricity consumption, the crystal growth rate, and the shape of the C–M interface during the solidification process. Based on the simulation results, a generation-five, directional-solidification furnace was upgraded and implemented in casting experiments. The experimental results show that the feedstock capacity increased by 77.8%, the crystal growth efficiency increased by 53.8%, and the average yield rate of the silicon ingots increased by 9%. The crystal–melt interface was flatter and the growth direction of the grains was almost straight upward.