Crystalline silicon obtained by pouring pure molten silicon into a vertical mould and adjusting the temperature gradient along the mould volume during cooling to obtain slow, vertically advancing crystallisation of the silicon. The polycrystalline ingot thus formed is composed of large, relatively parallel, interlocking crystals. The cast ingots are sawed into wafers for further fabrication into photovoltaic cells. Cast silicon wafers and ribbon silicon sheets fabricated into cells are usually referred to as polycrystalline photovoltaic cells.