Silicon Wafer Photovoltaics
B. Herter, M. Peters, S. Janz, M. Hermle, J.C. Goldschmidt
Introduction
Photons below the band gap of a semiconductor solar cell are transmitted through the cell and therefore cannot contribute to current generation. For silicon solar cells, about 20 percent of the incident energy is lost. Upconversion of low-energy photons can reduce these losses. Thus, the theoretical efficiency limit of a silicon solar cell is increased from close to 30 percent[1] up to 40.2 percent.[2]
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Els Parton, Robert Mertens, Jef Poortmans
The ITRS is the world-famous International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. It is the guideline for the semiconductor industry forecasting technology requirements. In the same way, roadmapping exercises have been performed for the PV industry. One example of such a roadmapping exercise is the ITRPV, the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics. It predicts a decrease in module manufacturing cost per peak watt by a factor 2 to 3 over a period of 10 years (Figure 1). This of course assumes a sustainable market growth and progress in technology.
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Robert David Vinje, VP of Expansions, SunPower Corporation
PV manufacturers are focused on two things: cost reduction and cell efficiency. There are many different approaches to optimizing these items individually, but technology and manufacturing advancements are tackling cost reduction and cell efficiency as two advantageously intertwined opportunities.
Mike Moore, Vice President, SVTC Solar
Depending on who I talk to, I hear two very different perceptions about innovation in the solar industry. Some people believe that solar manufacturing and technology has now stabilized and that there will be incremental technology improvements introduced into the marketplace while most of the improvements to drive us toward grid parity will come from the increased scale of factories and reduction in both balance of system and consumable costs. The other camp, which I will admit to being a member of, believes that there are still large opportunities for cost reduction and performance improvement in solar technology that will result from technical innovation (in addition to those incremental improvements described above). At the IEEE PV conference in June, Alan Goodrich, senior analyst for Solar PV Manufacturing Technologies at the National Renewable Energy Lab, presented a paper that included a crystalline silicon (cSi) cost roadmap. Dr. Goodrich’s roadmap clearly demonstrates the extraordinary opportunities that still exist through technological advances such as selective emitter, rear contact, and no kerf wafer manufacturing, which will combine with incremental improvements such as thinner wafers, advanced passivation schemes, different metalization approaches and the continued reduction in the price of consumables due to the scaling of the industry to continue reducing the costs of cSi modules.
I.G. Romijn, et al. , ECN Solar Energy
The possibility of obtaining high efficiencies is a major strength of wafer silicon PV. Increasing solar cell efficiency will reduce the costs per watt and can be achieved with highly efficient back-contacted cells. We describe the development of a high-efficiency, back-junction, back-contacted cell, also known as an interdigitated back-contacted (IBC) cell that can be processed using low-cost, industrial methods. In Figure 1(a), we show a cross section of an n-type IBC cell. For comparison, a standard p-type cell is shown in Figure 1(b). The main structural differences are the location of the emitter and its contact, which is on the rear for the IBC cell instead of the front for the standard cell.
Jörg W. Müller, Q-Cells SE
Photovoltaics is one of the fastest-growing electricity generation technologies in the world. Average annual growth rates of global PV installations have been around 45 percent for the last 15 years, which, in combination with typical learning rates of 20 percent, lead to fast and ongoing cost reductions in the industry.
Sylvère Leu, Meyer Burger Technology AG
This article assesses new technological developments: On the one hand, the total cost of ownership and the reduction of the costs per Wp; and on the other, the life cycle cost of energy and the reduction of the kWh costs. The technological approach in terms of their impact on the TCO and LCOE are highlighted.
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GT Solar (NASDAQ: SOLR), headquartered in Merrimack, N.H., is a leading global provider of polysilicon production technology, and sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets. The company's products and services allow its customers to optimize their PV manufacturing environments to achieve lower cost of ownership.
Kristian Peter, CEO, ISC Konstanz
About one hour of solar energy would provide enough energy to power the planet for a year. With present technology, we would need less than 0.1 percent of the planet surface to cover that energy. And as there are enough roofs and other surface areas available to cover a significant share of electricity by PV, only one figure is critical: the cost of the generated kWh ($/kWh).
GT Solar (NASDAQ: SOLR), headquartered in Merrimack, N.H., is a leading global provider of PV manufacturing equipment, process technology and services for the solar industry. The company's products and services allow its customers to optimize their PV manufacturing environments to achieve lower cost of ownership.
