The global energy consumption is predicted to grow dramatically every year. Higher energy prices and public awareness for the global warming problem have opened up the market for solar cells. The generation of electricity with solar cells is considered to be one of the key technologies of the new century. The impressive growth is mainly based on solar cells made from polycrystalline silicon. This paper reviews the recent advances in chemical and metallurgical routes for photovoltaic (PV) silicon production. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.