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IBM Recycles Waste CPU Wafers Into Solar Panels

Posted by kdawson on from the trash-to-power-revisited dept.

Luyseyal writes "IBM has developed a process for scrubbing waste silicon wafers clean, allowing the otherwise highly secret waste to be sold. The silicon quality usually necessary for solar production is very high and the cost of solar panels reflects it. Recycling this waste should help bring down the cost in the long run and add a new profit vector for chip manufacturers. The article notes that IBM has such a high profile in the chip business that this recycling tech should spread rapidly."

5 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. SLASHDOT SUX0RZ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    _0_
    \''\
    '=o='
    .|!|
    .| |
         thank you for recycling

    1. Re:SLASHDOT SUX0RZ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      My god! That must absorb a ton of light. Look how dark everything is!

  2. And we should care because? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Every month there are articles about solar technologies being developed that are levels of magnitude more efficient than Silicon Solar panels and supposedly far cheaper.

    So, who the hell cares about Silicon Solar panels?

  3. So if I'm reading this right... by Lord+Bitman · · Score: -1, Troll

    They seem to have developed not a new way to help the environment, but a new way to protect their "intellectual property". Are we all supposed to praise them because they've stopped polluting quite as much in an obscene unnecessary procedure they go through before recycling their waste?

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  4. Re:Forgive me, this is a bit offtopic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    It's a harsh world, and anyway nerdy Slashdot was supposed to be reflective of a bunch of nerds sitting around trying to decide who's the smartest. Imagine sitting around a round white table in an air conditioned room, sipping nerd juice, and some nerd says something like that. You'd gigglesnort nerdishly and fight the impulse to roll your eyes.