Photovoltaic manufacturing: Present status, future prospects, and research needs

Wolden, Colin A.; Kurtin, Juanita; Baxter, Jason B.; Repins, Ingrid; Shaheen, Sean E.; Torvik, John T.; Rockett, Angus A.; Fthenakis, Vasilis M.; Aydil, Eray S.

doi:doi:10.1116/1.3569757

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Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A / Volume 29 / Issue 3 / Review Article

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J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 29, 030801 (2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.3569757 (16 pages)

Photovoltaic manufacturing: Present status, future prospects, and research needs

Colin A. Wolden¹, Juanita Kurtin², Jason B. Baxter³, Ingrid Repins⁴, Sean E. Shaheen⁵, John T. Torvik⁶, Angus A. Rockett⁷, Vasilis M. Fthenakis⁸, and Eray S. Aydil⁹

¹Department of Chemical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 1500 Illinois Street, Golden, Colorado 80401
²Spectrawatt, 7175 Northwest Evergreen Parkway, Hillsboro, Oregon 97124
³Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
⁴National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401
⁵Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Denver, 2112 East Wesley Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80208
⁶Novus Energy Partners, 201 North Union Street, Suite 350, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
⁷Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois, 1304 W. Green St., Urbana, Illinois 61801
⁸Columbia University, Upton, New York 11973 and Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973
⁹Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, 151 Amundson Hall, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

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(Published online 29 March 2011)

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In May 2010 the United States National Science Foundation sponsored a two-day workshop to review the state-of-the-art and research challenges in photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing. This article summarizes the major conclusions and outcomes from this workshop, which was focused on identifying the science that needs to be done to help accelerate PV manufacturing. A significant portion of the article focuses on assessing the current status of and future opportunities in the major PV manufacturing technologies. These are solar cells based on crystalline silicon (c-Si), thin films of cadmium telluride (CdTe), thin films of copper indium gallium diselenide, and thin films of hydrogenated amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon. Current trends indicate that the cost per watt of c-Si and CdTe solar cells are being reduced to levels beyond the constraints commonly associated with these technologies. With a focus on TW/yr production capacity, the issue of material availability is discussed along with the emerging technologies of dye-sensitized solar cells and organic photovoltaics that are potentially less constrained by elemental abundance. Lastly, recommendations are made for research investment, with an emphasis on those areas that are expected to have cross-cutting impact.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article is based on the workshop supported by the National Science Foundation through Grant No. CBET-1027337. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors thank all of the participants for their thoughtful contributions. C.A.W. acknowledges Science Foundation Ireland for support through an E.T.S. Walton Visitor Fellowship during the preparation of this article. S.E.S. would like to thank Russ Gaudiana (Konarka Technologies) and Gang Li (Solarmer Energy) for insightful discussions. E.S.A. acknowledges support by the National Science Foundation through Grant No. CBET-0931145.

Article Outline

INTRODUCTION
PRESENT STATUS OF PV MANUFACTURING
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN CURRENT PV MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES
1. Crystalline silicon
  1. Silicon feedstock
  2. Kerfless wafers
  3. Ultrathin silicon
  4. Module efficiency
2. CdTe
3. Amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon
4. CIGS
  1. Coevaporation
  2. Metal selenization/sulfurization
  3. Solution processing
  4. Material chemistry
MATERIAL AVAILABILITY AT TW/yr MANUFACTURING
1. Dye-sensitized solar cells
2. OPV
3. Inorganic thin films from earth abundant elements
FUTURE OUTLOOK AND RECCOMENDATIONS
1. Redefining the boundaries of PV technologies
2. Cross-cutting areas for investment
  1. Development of national user facilities for photovoltaic manufacturing research
  2. Advanced photon management
  3. Can glass be replaced?
  4. Science of manufacturing
  5. Reliability science
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

amorphous semiconductors, cadmium compounds, copper compounds, dyes, elemental semiconductors, gallium compounds, hydrogen, II-VI semiconductors, indium compounds, nanostructured materials, semiconductor thin films, silicon, solar cells, ternary semiconductors, thin film devices

PACS

88.40.jj

Silicon solar cells
88.40.jm

Thin film III-V and II-VI based solar cells
88.40.jn

Thin film Cu-based I-III-VI2 solar cells
88.40.jr

Organic photovoltaics
88.40.hj

Efficiency and performance of solar cells

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History

Received 20 December 2010
Accepted 23 February 2011
Published online 29 March 2011

Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.3569757

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0734-2101 (print)

1520-8559 (online)

Publisher

American Vacuum Society

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