Transcript Silicon PV vs thin film vs. concentration

Silicon PV vs. thin film vs. concentration –
The Future of Solar
featuring
co-sponsored by
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.
Agenda
• Introduction to issues
• Presentations
– Silicon photovoltaics – SolarWorld
– Thin film – Global Solar
– Concentration – NuEdison
• Questions from moderator
• Questions from audience
History - 1975
Wafered silicon too expensive
Breakthrough
needed
Thin films
Concentration
Remote habitation
Solar farms
History - 1975
Wafered silicon too expensive
Breakthrough
needed
What actually
happened
Thin films
Concentration
U.S. D.O.E. wafered
silicon program
Remote habitation
Solar farms
Residential/commercial
grid connected
Source: SunPower
40
Best Cell Efficiencies in Lab
36
32
Efficiency (%)
28
24
Multijunction Concentrators
Crystalline Si Cells
Thin Film Technologies
Emerging dye & organic PV
20
16
12
8
4
0
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
Source: NREL
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
Benefits and drawbacks
Silicon PV
Thin Film
Conventional
Concentration
Low silicon
consumption



Low cost



High efficiency



Low maintenance



All climates



Question becomes, ‘what technology is best used where, for what?’
Cost Development 2002 - 2010
Silicon
Wafer
Cell
Module
Reduced wafer thickness over 10 years
Wafer thickness, produced industrially [µm]
main thickness
400
340
270
330
300
270
330
300
270
210
210
210
270
240
210
1995
2000
2004
2005
2006
2007
156
156
156 / 210 mm
100
125
156
length of wafer edge
270
240
210
180
240
210
180
100 200 300 400
Wafer thickness
[µm]
Silicon foil technology development
Silicon Sheet from Powder
Edge defined
Film-fed Growth
String Ribbon
Ribbon Growth on Substrate
What is CIGS?
• Typical Structure
– Molybdenum/CIGS/
Cadmium Sulfide/Indium
Tin Oxide
2000
Solar spectrum AM 1.5
Power density [W/m2]
• Polycrystalline Thin Film
Photovoltaic Solar Cell Based
on the Copper Indium
Gallium Diselenide (CIGS)
Material System
1500
CuGaSe2; a-Si
1000
CuInS2
CuInSe2; c-Si
500
0
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
 [m]
• Formed on Substrates
– Glass
– Stainless Steel
– Polymer
Ag top contact grid
1.8m
0.5 – 1.5m
0.03 – 0.08m
1.5 – 2.5m
0.5 – 1.5m
n-type ZnO/ITO window
n-type CdS buffer
p-type CIGS absorber
Mo back contact
SLG or SS substrate
1.4
Process to Product
1.
2.
3.
4.
Thin-Film deposition of 100 meter plus rolls
Cell / Submodule Manufacturing
Module Finishing
Deployment
Products to Market
Rugged Environment
Commercial Products
Standard Solar Modules
Silicon Cell Replacement
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
Concentration
Complementary technologies combine to yield
performance breakthroughs
1990’s
1GHz Microprocessor
–
–
–
–
–
–
Submicron lithography
Planar processes
Pipelined Architectures
On-chip Caches
Copper Interconnect
Advanced Design Tools
2000’s
$1/Watt PV Module
–
–
–
–
–
More Efficient Materials
Thinner Wafers
Concentrators
Manufacturing Scale
Yield Improvements
Two Worlds of PV Concentrators
High Concentration
Low Concentration
– III-V Multijunction Cells
– Si and CIGS
– Requires Tracking
– Stationary
– Requires Arid Climate
– Distributed Generation (rooftops,
5x energy value)
– Utility Scale Installations
– Can accept diffuse light
Concentrator Ecosystem
Thermodynamic Limit of
Stationary Concentrators
Si, CIGS
Diminishing Economic
Returns for Si
“Valley of Death”
III-V MultiJunction Becomes
Economical
GaInP/GaAs/Ge
Vendor F
Vendor B
Vendor A
1X
Vendor C
2X 5X 10X
Vendor E
Vendor D
100X
500X
Concentration Factor
1000X
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”
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)
Silicon PV vs. thin film vs. concentration –
The Future of Solar
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