Title :
Decade of PV industry R&D advances in silicon module manufacturing
Author :
Symko-Davies, Martha ; Mitchell, Richard L. ; Witt, C. Edwin ; Thomas, Holly P. ; King, Richard ; Ruby, Douglas
Author_Institution :
Nat. Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO, USA
Abstract :
The US photovoltaic (PV) industry has made significant technical advances in crystalline silicon (Si) module manufacturing through the PV Manufacturing R&D Project during the past decade. Funded Si technologies in this project have been Czochralski, cast polycrystalline, edge-defined film fed growth (EFG) ribbon, string ribbon, and Si-film. Specific R&D Si module-manufacturing categories that have shown technical growth and are discussed are in crystal growth and processing, wafering, cell fabrication, and module manufacturing. These R&D advancements since 1992 have contributed to a 30% decrease in PV manufacturing costs and stimulated a sevenfold increase in PV production capacity
Keywords :
crystal growth from melt; elemental semiconductors; history; semiconductor device manufacture; semiconductor growth; semiconductor thin films; silicon; solar cell arrays; Czochralski technology; PV Manufacturing R&D Project; PV industry R&D advances; PV manufacturing costs; PV production capacity; Si; Si PV module manufacturing; Si-film technology; USA; cast polycrystalline technology; crystal growth; crystal processing; edge-defined film fed growth technology; solar cell fabrication; solar cell module manufacturing; string ribbon technology; technical advances; wafering; Costs; Crystallization; Fabrication; Manufacturing industries; Manufacturing processes; Photovoltaic systems; Production; Semiconductor films; Silicon; Solar power generation;
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.2000.916168
