Every fiber in solar?

The rock to rule the world.

It sure is a sign of the times when a Chinese fabric company has a polysilicon producing subsidiary.

Jiangyin, China-based JiangSu Sunshine Co., also known as China's largest wortsted and wool fabric company—which produces 350,000 premium men's suits a year—has apparently advanced $121.4 million with the intention of buying polysilicon making equipment for its subsidiary Ningxia Sunshine Silicon Co., which plans to output a relatively paltry 4,000 tons of polysilicon per year compared to larger plants.

This bit of news comes at an interesting time for polysilicon.

Earlier this year, Changzhou, China-based Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) said it cancelled plans to build a $1 billion polysilicon plant due to limited resources of the material (see Trina Solar drops plans for polysilicon plant).

Others talk of a looming polysilicon glut.

Polysilicon projects are nothing new to China and are popping up quite frequently despite regional silicon shortages.