The industry-renowned Intersolar Europe 2012 has presented Schott Solar and Schmid, Solon and Isra with the award for innovative photovoltaic technology.
Schott Solar and Schmid Group
The joint approach TinPad system is claimed to provide an alternative to abate the critical cost of silver used in cell manufacturing. Having previously failed in the past due to poor adhesion to aluminium, the system, now ready for use in manufacturing, allows for tin contacts to be applied to six-inch solar cells, replacing the backside with tin. This is considerably less expensive, saving approximately US$0.06 per wafer.
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Patented by Schott Solar, no silver is required in the backside contacts of the solar cell and adhesive force. The Schmid Group expects to commence shipping initial TinPad systems in September.
Solon
US-based Solon patent-pending SOLquick system’s plug-and-play rooftop solution is claimed to integrate a frameless module and racking into a unitary product to bring cost savings, simplicity and design values to module installation practices by shipping directly to the construction site, fully assembled with no staging requirements. The company states the product can be installed in 10 units per man hour. Alongside these qualities, the company won the award for initial SOLquick flat roof installation for reducing mechanical installation time by over 85% and electrical installation time by 50%.
Featuring Fibrex material from Andersen Corporation, a wood and thermoplastic composite material for the racking, the SOLquick system is apparently significantly lighter than traditional roof-mounted systems, at 2.8psf (80lbs). In addition, the system requires no additional ground wire, which further minimizes labour and cost.
“It is an honor to be recognized by our peers as an innovation leader in the solar industry,” said Daniel Alcombright, SOLON president and CEO. “Winning the Intersolar Award for the SOLquick system highlights the importance of developing innovative products to attack overall system and installation efficiencies and costs, saving both time and money and allowing installers to increase the number of installations in their portfolio.”
Isra
From Darmsadt, Germany, the 3D Machine Vision provider received the award for its luminescence inspection system. The system inspects the quality of solar cells and PV modules in the production line. The company claims that compared to existing systems, the quality assessment can now be improved significantly. This product offers companies in the solar industry the possibility to detect and sort out only those cells that are actually defective. This reduces incorrect rejects as well as increasing quality and yield while simultaneously lowering costs.
ISRA met with great interest among Chinese manufacturers for this technology at the SNEC PV Power Expo 2012 in Shanghai, China. The new application is said to meet a fast return on investments.
The Intersolar Award is given out annually by an independent panel of judges in the categories of photovoltaics, solar thermal technologies and PV production technologies (in cooperation with SEMI PV Group). Over 3,500 exhibitors from Intersolar Europe, Intersolar North America, Intersolar India and Intersolar China are all eligible to compete for the Intersolar Award. Nominees are judged on their innovation compared to other products currently on the market as well as their technological and economic benefits and their contribution to the industry, environment and society.
