The fact that the CZ and FZ processes for wafer production were developed for the semiconductor industry has been both a blessing and a curse. Without question, the photovoltaics industry has benefited greatly by being able to piggyback onto technology developed for the immense microelectronics industry.Also, since PVs don’t need the very highest quality wafers, they can use some of the rejected crystalline silicon originally meant for the semiconductor industry. On the other hand, a wafer that is fabricated into thousands of high-priced integrated circuits can generate a lot more revenue than one that ends up as a photovoltaic cell, which means an electronics company can pay a lot more for wafers, keeping their price high.