Title :
Triple-junction amorphous silicon alloy PV manufacturing plant of 5 MW annual capacity
Author :
Guha, S. ; Yang, J. ; Banerjee, A. ; Hoffman, K. ; Sugiyama, S. ; Call, J. ; Jones, S.J. ; Deng, X. ; Doehler, J. ; Izu, M. ; Ovshinsky, H.C.
Author_Institution :
United Solar Syst. Corp., Troy, MI, USA
fDate :
29 Sep-3 Oct 1997
Abstract :
A spectral-splitting, triple-junction a-Si alloy solar cell processor has been designed, built and optimized. A roll-to-roll process has been used to deposit two layers of back reflector, a triple-cell structure with nine layers of a-Si and a-SiGe alloys and a single layer of antireflection coating consecutively on a half-a-mile roll of stainless steel. The coated web is next slabbed and processed to make a variety of products. The design of the machine and processes used incorporate several key features developed for improving cell efficiency. In order to reduce manufacturing cost, higher deposition rates and thinner cells than are used in R&D have been used. The back reflector also consists of Al/ZnO rather than Ag/ZnO. Large-scale production has begun, and products are being shipped for a wide range of applications
Keywords :
Ge-Si alloys; amorphous semiconductors; antireflection coatings; elemental semiconductors; p-n heterojunctions; semiconductor device manufacture; silicon; solar cells; Al-ZnO; Al/ZnO back reflector; Si; SiGe; a-Si PV manufacturing plant; a-SiGe alloys; antireflection coating; cell efficiency improvement; higher deposition rates; manufacturing cost reduction; roll-to-roll process; spectral-splitting a-Si solar cell; stainless steel; thinner cells; triple-junction a-Si alloy solar cel; Amorphous silicon; Coatings; Design optimization; Iron alloys; Manufacturing; Photovoltaic cells; Process design; Silicon alloys; Steel; Zinc oxide;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1997., Conference Record of the Twenty-Sixth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Anaheim, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3767-0
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1997.654162
