Photovoltaics International Papers

In 2006, Conergy AG started construction on one of the most advanced solar factories in the world in Frankfurt (Oder). On 35,000 square metres, a fully integrated and fully-automated wafer, cell and module production facility was created – all under one roof. Since 2008, production has been running at full speed and every day more than 3,000 premium modules roll out of the factory. This paper outlines the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) process put in place by Conergy during the planning phase of the factory, to monitor and control the complex and merging production processes.

Over the past two years the solar industry has shown itself to be incredibly resilient to general economic crisis. Supported by cost-cutting and efficiency improvements, the PV industry managed to achieve a growth rate of 120%, or 16.2GW, of newly installed capacity in 2010. Although individual companies are feeling the strong price and margin pressure and intensifying competition, the large, international and vertically-integrated companies are surviving. At least eight new PV markets with a potential annual capacity of 500MW are expected to be added over the next two years. The PV industry will therefore acquire the stability and political autonomy it needs to be able to grow unimpeded and to enter new dimensions. There might also be further tailwind for the PV industry from the catastrophic nuclear crisis in Japan.

Supporting a smooth application of new wafer materials and handling equipment into photovoltaic mass production requires extensive testing of new wafers and equipments under a range of potential operating conditions. The management of such experiments, both in laboratory and production environments, demands the integration and management of a multitude of differing information. This includes static data-like equipment, specifications and experiment settings, online machine data regarding process signal and events – but also unstructured human knowledge, which is available in manual and test reports. To efficiently deal with these kind of complex environments, knowledge management techniques have proven to be a promising approach in various industrial applications. This paper depicts, by means of a photovoltaic wafer-testing platform at Fraunhofer IPA, how the application of automation systems and knowledge management techniques leads to more effective experiment management. More precisely, the gathered knowledge from the wider range of information included in the analysis of experiments can be re-used during future experiments and the manual effort is significantly reduced.

When Stion started looking for sites to establish its first volume production plant, Mississippi was not even on its radar. After vetting some “100 different opportunities, state and local flavors and locations,” the San Jose-based thin-film PV module company had “narrowed the list down to a half-dozen or so pretty quickly,” including Texas, Virginia, Michigan, and California, according to CEO Chet Farris.

This article provides an overview of the typical waste water treatment methods for crystalline silicon solar cell production. Firstly, a short description is provided of the main process steps of photovoltaic production and the types of waste water generated during these steps. Secondly, the typical waste water treatment methods of hydrogen fluoride (HF) precipitation and neutralization are presented. Furthermore, some options for the reuse of rinse water are discussed and several guidelines for the design of waste water treatment systems are given. Finally, the relative environmental impact of the waste water treatment compared to the emissions of the whole fab is presented using the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology.

This paper discusses the wire sawing process and its impact on the wafer surface and subsurface. Surface damage is found to be the main determinant in wafer stability, while an outline of the sawing parameters that have a strong influence on the surface and subsurface damage is presented. The results indicate how it is possible to decrease the breakage rate of wafers and improve the homogeneity (e.g. TTV) of wafer surfaces. A further goal in the development of the wire sawing process is to successfully reduce material consumption. This can be achieved by sawing thinner wafers with thinner wires, which leads to a reduction of the kerf loss per produced silicon surface. The second option is to increase the material yield by decreasing the wafer breakage. It will be shown that silicon wafers with less and shorter cracks and smoother surfaces will give a higher yield, while proceeding to discuss some of the important factors that affect the microcrack formation.

Recent industry analysis from NanoMarkets has suggested that although current business cases for PV are running out of steam, the building-integrated PV (BIPV) sector may be able to revive PV’s fortunes. The arrival of ‘true’ BIPV – not just flush-mounted BIPV panels, but PV-enabled glass, tiles, siding, etc. – renders possible new business cases that would otherwise simply not be an option with conventional PV. This paper puts forth a business analysis of the BIPV industry, providing case studies and data on the burgeoning sector.

With more than 80% of PV module demand being satisfied by crystalline-based modules, the health of the silicon and wafer supply chain is of vital importance to the overall PV industry. This paper reviews the overall materials value chain from the manufacture of PV silicon to the wafer, prepared for manufacture of the cell. A glimpse is provided of the various market dynamics that exist in the supply chain, as well as the technology trends that influence or threaten the supply of wafers. Although the manufacturing routes are mature and well established, we also take a look at the possibility of novel and disruptive technologies altering the overall supply landscape.

Germany and Italy are forecasted to drive solar demand to new highs in 2011, with rumours of installations up to 22GW on the cards for this year. The German and Italian markets, scheduled to peak in 2011 and 2012, respectively, face a potential problem in terms of where to sell their modules if these two countries cannot accommodate 10GW of installations per year. The emerging markets can solve part of this challenge and will deliver new opportunities to the solar industry. Some Asian, European and Middle Eastern regions will require up to of 6GW of solar-generated electricity, while the Americas, Africa and Australia are each projected to install approximately 1GW in 2014. This paper takes a look at the development of these emerging markets and provides a projection of likely installation figures up to 2015.

Laser-doped selective emitter (LDSE) technology, invented and patented by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), is presently generating considerable interest in the photovoltaics industry due to its low cost, high efficiency, and suitability for mass production. The excellent results achieved to date – as high as 19.7% on small area laboratory test devices [1], and 19.0% on industrial large-area 156mm wafers [2] – are attracting a similarly impressive array of commercial partners. Nearly 10 companies are at various stages of implementation of LDSE technology variants into production and pilot production. This paper takes a closer look at the potential for mass production of LDSE-based solar cells.