Sanyo Electric Co. has developed technology for mass-producing solar
cells that meet the three requirements of practical size, high energy
conversion efficiency and low cost.The firm hopes to use this
technology by 2010 to mass-produce double-layer thin-film solar
cells.Thin-film solar cells use less silicon than typical bulk
crystalline solar cells, so the lower materials costs can offset the
lower conversion efficiency to some extent. The biggest drawback to
thin-film solar cells has been the slow speed of film formation. The
films are made using plasma chemical vapor deposition, shooting
gasified silicon out of a nozzle onto the substrate. Fabrication of
films for large-size solar cells takes more time because the gas
pressure decreases.
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