From this:



Solar grade bulk silicon ingots

To This:


sliced up and ready for sizing

Then to This:


ready for the contact layers and doping.

And all that before they start to dope. No wonder solar is expensive.

you know, its really that easy:

1. Get lump of metal
2. Machine in lathe
3. Slice with metal drop saw (may cause lots of waste, but neway)
4. Shape on the bandsaw
5. Put sticker on back saying "Solar Cell"
6. Dope it or whatever
7. Sell it for 999999999999999999999999999% profit
8. Tell the world it was really hard to do
9. Get yourself a mansion and servants
10. Let the google guys know how poor they are

Thats how its done at St Pauls