Characterization Of Silica Sandstone For Photovoltaic Application.

With increasing energy needs and the gradual depletion of fossil energy sources (oil, gas and coal), renewable energies, and particularly solar photovoltaic is the alternative future energy for our country. The growth of the photovoltaic industry is mainly based on silicon reducing the costs of solar cells and consequently the cost of silicon wafers. However, the incessant growth of the photovoltaic industry encourages the production of high-quality silicon (SoG-Si). Silicon is obtained by carbo reduction of pure silica, an abundant mineral resource in nature, an inorganic material with a chemical formula SiO2. The reduction of silica (quartz, sandstone, sand and quartzite) by carbon (wood, coal, coal, petroleum) produces silicon. The main aim of this work is to characterize sandstones of Jijel region by different characterization techniques (X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction) in order to identify the morphology, the defects as well as the main impurities existing in the crystal lattice as well as on its surface. Secondly, to recover it as a raw material that can be used for the production of silicon. The obtained results show that Jijel sandstones present a high purity of silica 97- 98% SiO2 and can be used for silicon production after it enrichment.