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Silicon PV vs. thin film vs. concentration – The Future of Solar

Silicon PV vs. thin film vs. concentration – The Future of Solar. featuring. co-sponsored by. Your Presenters.

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Silicon PV vs. thin film vs. concentration – The Future of Solar

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  1. Silicon PV vs. thin film vs. concentration –The Future of Solar featuring co-sponsored by

  2. Your Presenters • SolarWorld's Terry Jester is Director, Engineering and Operations of SolarWorld Industries America. She's been with the company for 28 years, and developed the standard Cz module the company has in production today. • Global Solar's Mike Gering, President, joined the company in October, 2001 after an 18-year career at Litton Industries. Gering previously served 25 years as a U.S. Marine. • NuEdison's Joe Lichy, President and CEO, has 15 years of experience in R&D with Intel, QED, and PMC-Sierra, and is the inventor of NuEdison's upcoming flat-plate concentrator.

  3. Agenda • Introduction to issues • Presentations • Silicon photovoltaics – SolarWorld • Thin film – Global Solar • Concentration – NuEdison • Questions from moderator • Questions from audience

  4. History - 1975 Wafered silicon too expensive

  5. History - 1975 Wafered silicon too expensive What actually happened Source: SunPower

  6. 40 Best Cell Efficiencies in Lab 36 Multijunction Concentrators Crystalline Si Cells Thin Film Technologies Emerging dye & organic PV 32 28 24 20 Efficiency (%) 16 12 8 4 0 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Source: NREL

  7. Issues today • Silicon panels • Past: ‘accidental’ technology • Present: clear technology of choice, continued cost reduction • Future: ‘crossroads’, but not going away • Thin film • Efficiencies finally becoming competitive • But there’s more to the story than just efficiencies • Best on big, commercial roofs with lots of space? • Concentration • No longer just thermal-only • But installers don’t want moving parts • Predicated on silicon being expensive

  8. Benefits and drawbacks Question becomes, ‘what technology is best used where, for what?’

  9. Cost Development 2002 - 2010 Silicon Wafer Cell Module

  10. Reduced wafer thickness over 10 years • Wafer thickness, produced industrially [µm] • main thickness • 400 • 340330330 • 300 300 • 270 270 270270270 • 240 240240 • 210 210 210 210 210210 • 180180 • 2000 2004 2005 2006 2007 • 100 125 156 156 156156 / 210 mm • length of wafer edge 100 200 300 400 Wafer thickness [µm]

  11. Silicon foil technology development Silicon Sheet from Powder Edge defined Film-fed Growth String Ribbon Ribbon Growth on Substrate

  12. Polycrystalline Thin Film Photovoltaic Solar Cell Based on the Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide (CIGS) Material System Typical Structure Molybdenum/CIGS/Cadmium Sulfide/Indium Tin Oxide Formed on Substrates Glass Stainless Steel Polymer 1.8mm 0.5 – 1.5mm Ag top contact grid 0.03 – 0.08mm 1.5 – 2.5mm 0.5 – 1.5mm n-type ZnO/ITO window n-type CdS buffer p-type CIGS absorber Mo back contact SLG or SS substrate What is CIGS?

  13. Process to Product • Thin-Film deposition of 100 meter plus rolls • Cell / Submodule Manufacturing • Module Finishing • Deployment

  14. Products to Market Standard Solar Modules Rugged Environment Commercial Products Silicon Cell Replacement

  15. Why thin-film CIGS? • Higher efficiency • Currently Global Solar Cells are 9-10% • NREL verified cells as high as 19% • Lower cost (in volume) • Process costs are lower • Manufacturing costs are lower • Features • Flexible substrate • Cell size can be easily changed • Benefits • CIGS flexible cells are adaptable to the widest variation of solar power applications; portable, glass PV, building integrated products • In addition to portable applications, Global Solar cells are compatible with silicon industry manufacturing

  16. 2000’s $1/Watt PV Module More Efficient Materials Thinner Wafers Concentrators Manufacturing Scale Yield Improvements Concentration 1990’s 1GHz Microprocessor • Submicron lithography • Planar processes • Pipelined Architectures • On-chip Caches • Copper Interconnect • Advanced Design Tools Complementary technologies combine to yield performance breakthroughs

  17. Two Worlds of PV Concentrators High Concentration • III-V Multijunction Cells • Requires Tracking • Requires Arid Climate • Utility Scale Installations Low Concentration • Si and CIGS • Stationary • Distributed Generation (rooftops, 5x energy value) • Can accept diffuse light

  18. Concentrator Ecosystem Thermodynamic Limit of Stationary Concentrators Diminishing Economic Returns for Si III-V MultiJunction Becomes Economical Si, CIGS “Valley of Death” GaInP/GaAs/Ge Vendor F Vendor B Vendor E Vendor A Vendor C Vendor D 1X 2X 5X 10X 100X 500X 1000X Concentration Factor

  19. Future of Concentrators With each new material generation, new performance milestones will be reached. Each new technology will struggle to meet the cost of the older, more mature existing devices. Concentrators are cell technology agnostic. Higher performance materials benefit more from concentration. Concentrators will provide the vehicle for accelerating new materials into the market. Source: Martin Greene, “The future of thin film solar cells”

  20. Questions Terry Jester, Director, Engineering and Operations SolarWorld (silicon PV) Mike Gering, President Global Solar Energy (thin film) Joe Lichy, President and CEO NuEdison (concentration)

  21. Thank you for being part Know someone else who’d want to hear this? An archive will be made available. Silicon PV vs. thin film vs. concentration –The Future of Solar

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