Abstract Wire Electric Discharge Machining (WEDM) is being explored as an efficient alternative for cutting silicon wafers for photovoltaics. This is because WEDM results in lesser kerf loss as compared to traditional abrasive cutting techniques. While the commercially available WED machines are developed for cutting metals, it is necessary to develop a customized WEDM for cutting semiconductor materials such as silicon. To this end, this paper discusses design aspects of a miniature WED machine (of size 1200 × 600 × 600 mm) customized for cutting of silicon. Design and topology of pulse generator are also presented here. Voltage and current waveforms while cutting silicon are compared with those obtained while cutting steel. It is seen that there are significant differences in the two, such as the spark current is more pulsating in cutting silicon than that in cutting steel. Such observations point out some fundamental differences in the nature of sparking while cutting semiconductors vis-a-vis metals, which could be attributed to difference in their physical properties.