Ten years of manufacturing R&D in PVMAT-technical accomplishments, return on investment, and where we go next

Author

Witt, C. Edwin ; Mitchell, Richard L. ; Symko-Davies, Martha ; Thomas, Holly P. ; King, Richard ; Ruby, Douglas S.

Author_Institution

Nat. Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO, USA

fYear

2000

fDate

2000

Firstpage

1502

Lastpage

1504

Abstract

The Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology Project (PVMaT) has been conducting cost-shared R&D with industry for ten years. Objectives of this project are to improve photovoltaic manufacturing processes and products and to lower manufacturing costs. The majority of the efforts have been module related. Results in terms of automation, yield, and throughput have provided a significant reduction in direct manufacturing costs. Some of these results are detailed, and a measure of the return due to these efforts is discussed. Finally, technical directions for future activities are identified

Keywords

investment; manufacturing processes; research and development management; solar cells; PVMaT; Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology Project; cost-shared R&D; direct manufacturing costs; manufacturing R&D; manufacturing costs reduction; photovoltaic manufacturing processes improvement; photovoltaic products improvement; return on investment; technical accomplishments; Costs; Crystallization; Investments; Manufacturing automation; Manufacturing industries; Manufacturing processes; Photovoltaic systems; Research and development; Solar power generation; Subcontracting;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2000. Conference Record of the Twenty-Eighth IEEE

Conference_Location

Anchorage, AK

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5772-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2000.916179

Filename

916179