TRAN estimates: ~2.5 tonnes of low-impurity quartz produces 1 tonne of silicon metal. 1 tonne of silicon metal produces 0.8 tonnes of polysilicon. ~3.5g of polysilicon is used per watt, or 3.5 tonnes per megawatt. Therefore, ~10.94 tonnes of
low-impurity quartz is required for 1 megawatt of solar power.
Natural Resources Canada estimates Canada’s installed solar capacity to be 6,452 megawatts or, ~6.5 gigawatts.
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