Honeywell helps growing demand for solar panels

Honeywell announced that it will design and install the core process and safety systems for a new plant under construction by Hoku Materials, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hoku Scientific, Inc. that is planned to produce polysilicon, a key material needed to produce solar panels. The solar power market is currently estimated to be a $10 billion business, with potential to expand to $30 billion by 2010. Serving as the main automation contractor and sole automation equipment supplier, Honeywell will engineer an integrated solution that will help the Pocatello, Idaho plant produce 3,500 tons of polysilicon per year. The system will include distributed control, batch management and safety technology.