Sectors
Three products, opened up
The parts of each, and the chain behind every part, from the raw material to the thing you buy.
How a solar module is made
A solar module is a sheet of silicon cells laminated between glass and a backsheet, framed in aluminum, with a junction box on the back. Each part has its own makers, and the cells have a chain of their own behind them: wafers, polysilicon, metallurgical silicon, quartz.
How a grid battery is made
A grid battery is racks of cells, each a sandwich of cathode, separator and anode soaked in electrolyte, wrapped in copper and aluminum foil and sealed. Behind the cathode and anode sit refined lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite, and behind those the mines.
How a chip is made
A chip starts as a polished silicon wafer, is patterned layer by layer in a fab with photomasks, gases and chemicals, then cut, mounted on a substrate, wired, molded and tested. Behind the fab stand the tool makers that equip it.