Your daily dose of Photovoltaic Technology Developments and Solar News

• Most Popular Articles

  • Top Stories 2008 – Power Generation – the good, the bad, and the efficiency
  • Top stories 2008 – Materials – could UMG be the answer?
  • Acciona’s Portuguese PV plant may be big, but one of the numbers just doesn’t add up
  • Top Stories 2008 - Thin Film – orders, gigawatts and growth
  • Top Stories 2008 – Cell Processing – efficiency is the name of the game!

• Editor's Picks

  • Top stories 2008 – Materials – could UMG be the answer?
  • Massive 168% photovoltaic module overcapacity to cause pricing collapse in 2009
  • Solar Santa: Ohio doles out millions in development dollars to local PV companies
  • Recession, what recession? Cavalcade of solar PV, renewable investments total billions in a day
  • Total taps into Konarka with US$45 million investment & R&D pact

• Latest Videos

  • Canadian Solar VP Robert Patterson talks Umg Si product lines - 150MW-plus in 2009
  • Delivering gasses for rapid growth in the PV Industry - Linde Electronics
  • Secrets of turnkey PV Module lines with Spire CEO Roger Little
  • Large area thin-film modules approach scale manufacturing with Applied Materials and Signet Solar
  • A passion for solar change: Anton Milner, Q-Cells CEO - exclusive interview

When GE's Energy division announced earlier this month that it had taken a majority interest in cadmium-telluride thin-film PV module start-up PrimeStar Solar, the Golden, CO-based company found itself on the solar manufacturing industry radar--and in this blog's crosshairs. Although not fully cloaked in stealth mode, the two-year-old firm hasn't shared much information about itself, starting with its detail-deficient Website. After a presentation by Fred Seymour, PrimeStar's VP of technology, at IntertechPira's Photovoltaic Summit last week in San Diego, in which he provided a good general CdTe overview, a few more details also emerged about his team's efforts chasing down First Solar.

The upbeat Seymour, who worked for many years in the gold mining industry, referred to his more-recent PV activities as "mining photons." He started his talk with some background on the roots of CdTe technology, going back to its beginnings at RCA in the late 1950s, the establishment of the first heterojunction cells in the early 1970s, and the refinement of the material through the 1980s and 1900s leading up to the record 16.5% cell efficiencies achieved at the National Renewable Energy Lab in 2001. As he pointed out, there has been some 35 years of active development work on CdTe technology.



After explaining the basic CdTe film stack (calling the p-type absorber the "workhorse layer"), he outlined the five key areas for thin-film process development: efficiency, uniformity, repeatability, stability, and cost. It all starts with a high-performance film stack, then one needs the proper toolset to deposit said films across the substrate with as little variability as possible, and then the source material and process specs must be dialed in and a forgiving, tolerant process window must be established for manufacturing in volume.

If the module isn't stable, with a proper warranty based on field and accelerated life tests, the market won't accept it, and finally, Seymour emphasized that manufacturing costs must be driven down relentlessly, with source materials, operating efficiencies, and equipment capital expenditures pushed ever lower.

In talking about the US Department of Energy's CdTe technology roadmap for 2007-2015, he noted that there will be "no technological breakthrough" needed. Rather, the key is "good, disciplined, consistent [engineering] execution to achieve the goals" (13% module efficiency, 70 cents per watt module cost, $2 per watt total installed system cost, 95% yields), using lean manufacturing and six-sigma protocols and practices. Seymour used the term "discipline" several times over the course of his presentation, a word not always associated with startup enterprises but a key factor in any hopes of success that PrimeStar has in eventually grabbing a part of the PV market.

Noting the growing number of CdTe players, he said "there is alot of froth in the market" and expects to see significant consolidation as well as the establishment of strong(er) supply and sales channels. As for the challenges and opportunities facing the sector, he cited the perceived toxicity risks with cadmium, then discounted it, noting among other things how the Cd is inherently "sequestered" safely within the modules.

He also mentioned the perceived scarcity of tellurium, but the old mining guy (OK, he's not old, so "former mining guy") disputed such claims, saying there's a 300-500 metric ton supply of Te available. While some price disruptions are likely, there's plenty of the element available in the seabed and elsewhere, "if," as he told me, "you know where to look."

Seymour listed several potential areas for further cost reduction, including increased module efficiencies, more enhanced/ disciplined (there's that word again) manufacturing practices, reduced material cost through a thinner CdTe layer, and an improved value/supply chain. He sees a "clear path for getting to 15% conversion efficiency modules" and believes the company "is well on track to beat [the Solar America Initiative target of] 70 cents per watt without major breakthroughs."

Coming to the more PrimeStar-specific part of his presentation, the technologist said the company designs, builds, operates, and owns its production tools, with an equipment team featuring several members who worked at Applied Films, now a part of Applied Materials' PV and glass OEM efforts following its acquisition a few years ago. The startup is in what Seymour called a "rapid ramp," pushing through the prototype stage to pilot and then volume production, though he would not divulge any specifics about the actual timeline or expected capacities.

The company has licensed and commercialized the world-record-setting NREL CdTe recipe and maintains a close relationship with the nearby lab, including continued cooperative R&D efforts. When asked during the Q&A how PrimeStar's CdTe differed from First Solar's, he called his company "a fast follower" and said the NREL-based tech in use has a different film stack than First's, employing what he called "advanced window layers."

He also said that in terms of relative performance degradation, it's only a "little higher" than that seen in silicon-based modules, noting that CdTe has "less packing factor" compared to the traditional technology when looking at the loss of efficiencies from the cell to module, and between "hero" and top or average "commercial" efficiencies.

Unlike some emerging thin-film companies who have made a self-promotional racket before they had actually perfected their manufacturing processes or had anything to actually sell, PrimeStar is biding its time. Modules will be produced "when we're ready," Seymour said coyly, "it's important not to put out product too early."

If PrimeStar stays disciplined and keeps its eye on the proverbial ball, I wouldn't be surprised to see substantive news from the CdTe startup by year's end and throughout 2009.