Your daily dose of Photovoltaic Technology Developments and Solar News

By Michael Kostwald, Turner & Townsend GmbH, Germany; Hans Mahrenholtz, Linde Gas, Linde AG, Germany; &
Anish Tolia, Linde Electronics, U.S.A.

ABSTRACT
Thin-film solar cell manufacturing is poised to make a giant leap in scale with the birth of the gigawatt fab. Commercial thin-film plants are typically sized based on the capacity of the production line from the chosen equipment supplier. In most cases, initial investments have been for a single line, typically with an output capacity of no more than 60MWp. This period of initial development has allowed the industry to prove the robustness of the technology and capabilities of the equipment, as well as to understand the significance for the cost-per-watt of key cost drivers such as materials reduction, cell efficiency increases, and productivity. While large-scale manufacturing will positively impact costs, it presents a unique set of challenges for equipment and material suppliers, as well as the engineering and contracting
companies tasked with designing, building, equipping and running a facility on this scale. In this paper, we present the insights of two specialty companies in the solar industry. Turner and Townsend, a design and project management consultancy, and Linde, glass manufacturer and gas and chemical company – share their views of the challenges of the gigawatt fab in three dedicated sections.

Dr. Ann Norris, Development Scientist, Dow Corning Corporation

ABSTRACT

Silicone polymers and resins have been formulated into multiple products that have a long history of successful use in a wide variety of applications and industries. Through chemical modifications of the polymer repeat unit, the optical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the polymers can be extensively varied and tuned to meet the requirements of specific applications. The inherent properties of silicones, such as very low ionic impurities, low moisture absorption, low dielectric constant and broad temperature utility, make them excellent material choices for applications in many of the specialty markets such as automotive, healthcare, electronics and microelectronics. These properties, in conjunction with their excellent optical transparency over a wide spectrum and UV stability, make silicones highly suitable for meeting the materials requirements for encapsulation of photovoltaic cells and other opto-electronic applications. This review will focus on the unique properties of silicones that make them ideal products for the entire photovoltaic (PV) module assembly market.