Homerun’s Brian Leeners on the Silica That Could Change Solar Glass Forever

When Brian Leeners talks about solar glass, it isn’t just a technical discussion—it sounds more like a revolution in the making. “It’s a milestone event, to say the least,” said the CEO and Director of Homerun Resources Inc. (TSXV: HMR | OTCQB: HMRFF), in an interview with InvestorNews.com host Tracy Hughes. “You can actually produce high-efficiency, great-quality solar glass without using antimony.”For a global solar industry long reliant on China’s dominance, that statement lands with the weight of a seismic shift. China currently manufactures roughly 95% of the world’s solar glass, and virtually all of it is doped with antimony—a toxic, expensive metal that improves clarity but complicates recycling. “The glass has always been the problem,” said Leeners. “In recycling solar modules, nobody wants that glass.”Homerun’s discovery that its Brazilian silica can create antimony-free solar glass could dramatically change that equation. “Our silica has the lowest iron content in a large silica sand deposit in the world,” Leeners explained. “It’s like mother nature got together with a solar glass engineer and decided, ‘Let’s make the perfect product.’”This unique resource, located in Bahia, Brazil, gives Homerun not only a cost advantage but a strategic one. With antimony prices surging and Western regulators pushing to eliminate its use in clean energy manufacturing, the company’s announcement has sparked international interest. “When we put out that news, we got a lot of incoming traffic,” Leeners said. “It was definitely well understood within the alternative energy community.”The timing is no accident. On November 13, Homerun announced it had engaged Germany’s DTEC PMP GmbH to complete a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) for what will be Latin America’s first dedicated high-efficiency solar glass manufacturing facility. The BFS, which will use Homerun’s high-purity low-iron silica from Bahia, is expected to be completed in Q1 2026—compressing a process that typically takes three to five years into just one. “The BFS is the deliverable for financing,” said Leeners. “It’s the point where you go from ‘we want to be in cash flow’ to ‘you are going to be in cash flow, subject to financing.’”The engagement with DTEC marks a turning point in Homerun’s vertical integration strategy. “Engaging DTEC represents a powerful milestone,” Leeners said. “We’re moving decisively toward making Brazil home to Latin America’s first dedicated high-efficiency solar glass manufacturing facility.” According to the company, the BFS will include market analysis, cost modeling, ESG frameworks, and technical assessments that will support project financing with both Brazil’s national development bank (BNDES) and international backers.But the company’s ambitions extend beyond solar glass. Homerun is also advancing research into using its ultra-pure silica in rare earth element separation—an industry Leeners believes is ripe for disruption. “In typical Brian-Leeners fashion, I want to disrupt that process,” he said. “We’re introducing new concepts with our partner. Brazil has a huge endowment of ionic adsorption clays—the same type found in China and Myanmar—but you can’t do in-situ leaching there. We’re looking at new techniques using silica gel for ion exchange.”This innovation-driven approach defines Homerun’s broader mission. As Leeners put it, “We have 10 to 15 material deliverables in process as we speak—high-grade silica, antimony-free solar glass, and rare earth extraction technologies. My mandate was to speed up the process.” For Leeners and his team, the road ahead is crowded with milestones. Homerun’s vertically integrated model—spanning silica supply, solar glass production, energy storage, and advanced energy solutions—is built to serve one goal: transforming Brazil’s abundant natural resources into the materials that power a cleaner, circular economy.