Title :
R&D of CdTe-absorber photovoltaic cells, modules, and manufacturing equipment: plan and progress to 100 MW/yr
Author :
Rose, D. ; Powell, R. ; Jayamaha, U. ; Maltby, M. ; Giolando, D. ; McMaster, A. ; Kormanyos, K. ; Faykosh, G. ; Klopping, J. ; Dorer, G.
Author_Institution :
First Solar, LLC-Technol. Center, Perrysburg, OH, USA
Abstract :
As part of a long-term vision of multi-GW production of photovoltaic (PV) panels per year, First Solar is implementing a plan for 17 kW/hour (~100 MW/year for 3 shifts) production. The research and development of the cells, modules, and manufacturing equipment necessary for this level of production are discussed. A component of this plan is to raise module efficiencies to 10%, with the majority of improvement coming from (i) improvement of thin-film uniformity, and (ii) reduction of CdS layer thickness while protecting open-circuit voltage with the inclusion of a high-resistivity layer between the TCO and CdS layers. The operation of a new semiconductor deposition system at 2.9 m2 /min, production throughput, and product quality are also discussed
Keywords :
II-VI semiconductors; cadmium compounds; electrical resistivity; production; semiconductor device manufacture; semiconductor thin films; solar cell arrays; solar cells; CdS layer thickness reduction; CdTe-absorber photovoltaic cells; CdTe-absorber photovoltaic modules; First Solar; high-resistivity layer; manufacturing equipment; module efficiencies; open-circuit voltage protection; product quality; production throughput; research and development; semiconductor deposition system; thin-film uniformity; Manufacturing; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Production systems; Protection; Research and development; Semiconductor thin films; Solar power generation; Throughput; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2000. Conference Record of the Twenty-Eighth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Anchorage, AK
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5772-8
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2000.915860
