Hi HK,

I am 100% certain that investors looking will find a lot of very interesting projects out there promising low-cost scalable ways to make Si for batteries.

The key question is what does the term low cost implies for these guys.

Presently making Si for Li-Ion batteries cost about US$30,000 per KG, so if you have a process to make the material for US$20,000 per KG, then yes you have a low-cost process...

Facts are:

• Si is being investigated as a potential battery replacement for graphite, a feedstock that presently cost for battery manufactures about US$10.00 per KG;
• Using the X 10 Gravimetric advantage and X3 Volumetric advantage of Si over graphite, as a baseline, it clear that batteries manufacture will only be willing to pay between US$30 a Kg to US$ 100 a Kg for Si to be used in there batteries. 

These are the price targets we are working with and I doubt that many other players have such low price targets.  (PS: our internal studies indicate that we can be very profitable at those levels).

Now, just making a quick review of the information about the process of the company you have found have raised, in my mind, a few questions about there process.

First, just like many Si projects being investigated, this one was first a Medical project... (Expensive and requires very pure raw product).  Often these projects start under the premises that simply by switching to a cheaper feedstock you can make it cheaper for battery applications...

To give a few examples of the issues I see:

• Battery manufactures prefer to have 3N - 4N purity material but using recycled solar cells as feedstock implies using Si with purity levels in the  80-90% range (closer to FeroSilicon purity than standard MG Si)...

• From the article "For Advano, the key is attaching a reactive nanoparticle to silicon scrap as those scraps are being crushed. Using that process, the company is able to produce functional silicon, according to Girau."  I have my doubts about the scalability of any process that requires a crushing and a chemical reaction to make the material.

What I want investors to realize is that I am aware that there will be many processes that will be talked about in the media over the coming months and years.

But in the end, I truly believe that our approach to building the Si that battery manufactures are looking for represents a once in a lifetime opportunity for HPQ and that in that field we have a few years head start advantage.

Regards

Bernard Tourillon

CEO