SANYO Electric has announced that it is to develop what it describes as
the ‘next-generation thin-film silicon solar cell’ that will be of
higher efficiency levels than its current Heterojunction with Intrinsic
Thin-layer (HIT) solar cells, which are currently some of the highest
manufactured. As part of the R&D effort, SANYO said that a new
‘Advanced Photovoltaics Development Center’ within its Gifu Plant in
Japan would be established.
“SANYO considers next-generation thin-film silicon solar cells as the
third generation of solar cells, following amorphous and HIT solar
cells,” noted Dr. Shinya Tsuda, SANYO’s Vice President and General
Manager of R&D Headquarters. “With this third generation of
products, we aim to commercialize them to decrease the cost of solar
power generation to match or be comparable to current home electricity
bills in the future… Based on a medium- and long-term perspective, we
will begin full-scale development of next-generation thin-film silicon
solar cells in order to meet demand for highly efficient but much
cheaper solar cells as well as HIT solar cells to meet higher-end needs
demanding the world’s best efficiency.”
SANYO is also planning
to invest ¥80 billion in HIT solar cells over the next three fiscal
years and increase production capacity to 650MW by FY2010, up 250
percent from the present figure.
