Oerlikon Solar On Track to Drive Down Cost by 30% in 2010, Prices to Fall to 70-Cents per Watt, Touts Technology at World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi

Oerlikon Solar’s Fab 1200: Mass production proven, fully automated end-to-end thin film manufacturing solutions

Image Credit: Oerlikon Solar

Oerlikon Solar executives report the company is on track to drive down cost by 30% in 2010 to 70-cents per Watt, and are touting its thin film technology at World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

Oerlikon Solar highlights include a leading thin film PV technology to make solar power economically viable

    * Over 450 MW of production capacity successfully ramped

    * Over 1 million panels produced on Oerlikon Solar equipment

    * On track to deliver an additional 30 percent cost reduction by 2010

Oerlikon Solar announced that it will be presenting its technology at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. Oerlikon Solar leads the thin film silicon solar equipment sector with nearly half a gigawatt of production equipment ramped globally and more than 1 million panels produced by its customers to date. With the company’s Micromorph® factories, Oerlikon Solar plans to reach production costs at grid parity by the end of this year making solar energy cost equal to fossil fuel-generated energy in many locations. Hence the company is well on track to offer its customers an advanced fab design capable of producing modules for $0.70/W by that time.

“Oerlikon Solar’s goal is to make solar power economically viable around the world,” said Jürg Henz, CEO of Oerlikon Solar. ”We see Abu Dhabi as a key market in helping us reach that goal and commend the United Arab Emirates for their commitment in helping bring thin film PV manufacturing to the forefront.”

Abu Dhabi Takes Strong Steps in Clean Energy

While Abu Dhabi sits on 90 percent of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) proven oil reserves the province is keen on finding new sources of revenues beyond oil. In April 2006, Abu Dhabi made a bold and historic decision to embrace renewable and sustainable energy solutions. Over the past year, government policies were introduced in many regions, including the United Arab Emirates, which were intended to accelerate investment in solar PV systems and solar PV manufacturing as part of economic stimulus programs. Abu Dhabi aims to generate seven percent of the electricity it generates to come from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Think Thin!

Oerlikon Solar’s is willing to address this important growth market with offering attractive PV module production solutions. The company’s thin film silicon solar technology offers advantages over traditional crystalline silicon and other thin film PV technologies including higher energy yield, better performance at high temperatures, no polysilicon price risk and zero toxicity issues. At the same time it provides long-term competitive advantages compared with other solar technologies due to long-term efficiency gain opportunities. For example, in the past 12 months, Oerlikon Solar significantly drove down module costs by around 25 percent, raising efficiency and improving the  productivity of its lines from 60 MW in 2008 to 100 MW in 2009 without additional equipment. The company is on track to deliver another 30% cost reduction by end of 2010 enabling customers to offer solar electricity at grid-competitive prices in many parts of the world.

Certified Swiss Excellence

Oerlikon Solar is the first thin film silicon technology provider to have IEC/TÜV Rheinland master certification for its entire family of thin film silicon solar technologies, including both Amorphous and Micromorph®. The certification ensures that modules produced by Oerlikon Solar’s customers are manufactured to the highest quality standards and can endure the most challenging real world  environmental conditions.

As a global leader in thin film silicon PV technology, Oerlikon Solar provides its customers with unparalleled experience in both installing and ramping up PV module factories, using its highly competitive amorphous and high-efficiency Micromorph® end-to-end production lines.

Nanometer Thick Solar Cells Snare Hot Electrons, BC Researchers First to Observe Effect-Technology Enables 3rd Generation Solar Cells

Boston College (Chestnut Hill, MA)  researchers have observed the “hot electron” effect in a solar cell for the first time and successfully harvested the elusive charges using ultra-thin solar cells, opening a potential avenue to improved solar power efficiency, the authors report in the current edition of Applied Physics Letters.

When light is captured in solar cells, it generates free electrons in a range of energy states. But in order to snare these charges, the electrons must reach the bottom of the conduction band. The problem has been that these highly energized “hot” electrons lose much of their energy to heat along the way.

By using ultrathin solar cells – a film fewer than 30 nanometers thick – the team developed a mechanism able to extract hot electrons in the moments before they cool – effectively opening a new “escape hatch” through which they typically don't travel, said co-author Michael J. Naughton, the Evelyn J. and Robert A. Ferris Professor of Physics at Boston College.

Hot electrons have been observed in other devices, such as semiconductors. But their high kinetic energy can cause these electrons, also known as “hot carriers,” to degrade a device. Researchers have long theorized about the benefits of harnessing hot electrons for solar power through so-called “3rd generation” devices. The team’s success centered on minimizing the environment within which the electrons are able to escape, said Professor of Physics Krzysztof Kempa, lead author of the paper.

Kempa compared the challenge to trying to heat a swimming pool with a pot of boiling water. Drop the pot into the center of the pool and there would be no change in temperature at the edge because the heat would dissipate en route. But drop the pot into a sink filled with cold water and the heat would likely raise the temperature within the confines of the smaller area.

“We have shrunk the size of the solar cell by making it thin,” Kempa said. “In doing so, we are bringing these hot electrons closer to the surface, so they can be collected more readily. These electrons have to be captured in less than a picosecond, which is less than one trillionth of a second.”

The ultra-thin cells demonstrated overall power conversion efficiency of approximately 3 percent using absorbers one fiftieth as thick as conventional cells. The team attributed the gains to the capture of hot electrons and an accompanying reduction in voltage-sapping heat. The researchers acknowledged the film’s efficiency is limited by the negligible light collection of ultra-thin junctions. However, combining the film with better light-trapping technology – such as nanowire structures – could significantly increase efficiency in an ultrathin hot electron solar cell technology.

In addition to Naughton and Kempa, the research team included Professor of Physics Zhifeng Ren, Research Associate Professor and Laboratory Director Andrzej A. Herczynski, Research Scientist Yantao Gao, doctoral student Timothy Kirkpatrick, and Jakub Rybczynski of Solasta Corp., of Newton MA, which supported the research. Naughton, Kempa and Ren are principals in the clean energy firm as well.

(L-R) Boston College Physicists Krzysztof Kempa, Michael Naughton,  Jakub Rybczynski and Zhifeng Ren.

Image credit: Boston College/Photo by Gary Wayne Gilbert

U.S. Air Force “Magnifying Glass” Photovoltaic Array Technology Amplifies Solar Power 500 To 1,000 Times-Produces 10 Kg Hydrogen a Day to Power Fuel Cell Forklifts

A U.S. Air Force demonstration project merges three green technologies: solar power, hydrogen production and fuel cell powered forklifts to prove the usefulness of a photovoltaic technology that captures 38% of the sun's energy.

Scott Slyfield and Robert David talk about the Air Force's Advanced Power Technology Office 25kW Tracking Solar Array recently installed at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. Mr. David is an engineering supervisor and head of the APTO office. Mr. Slyfield is an APTO program manager.

Image Credit: U. S. Air Force photo/Sue Sapp

The Robins Air Force Base (Robins, GA) community has consistently been a leader in testing alternative power technologies, but perhaps no other effort has been as visible to the general base populace than a recently installed solar panel.

The gleaming panel, about the size of a drive-in movie screen, incorporates state-of-the-art technology and produces about 25 kilowatts of electricity.

At a cost of approximately $434,000, it was installed by the Air Force's Advanced Power Technology Office using special congressional funding for renewable energy sources. The office, located at Robins, pursues Air Force-wide alternative energy uses.

Robert David, an engineering supervisor and head of the APTO office, said the solar panel is the first of its kind in the Southeast. What makes it unique, he said, is that it incorporates sensor technology that allows it to automatically track the sun with concentrated photovoltaic array technology that amplifies the sun's power 500 to 1,000 times.

That is done with the use of what are essentially magnifying glasses. "Of that amount of sun that hits it, you are capturing 38 percent of the energy of that light," he said.

If that sounds low, consider that earlier solar panels captured only about eight percent of the sun's energy, said Scott Slyfield, APTO program manager.

The benefits are that with a projected lifespan of at least 25-years, the 25 kilowatts of electricity that it produces will practically be free, aside from a minimal amount of maintenance work that must be done. However, Mr. David noted that considering the high capital cost, it still would be more expensive than standard electricity.

That could change if Air Force officials decide to purchase solar panels on a larger scale, bringing down the upfront cost.  "If you had farms of these, it could become more economical," Mr. David said.

The solar panel is actually part of a dual green-power initiative. Although the power that it generates will go directly to the base power grid, it is intended to offset that power used by a newly-installed hydrogen fuel production/refueling station.

The station, located within a short walk of the solar panel, produces 10 kilograms of hydrogen per day from water. The hydrogen is used to fuel two base forklifts with hydrogen fuel cells.

When Congressional funding became available for green energy, the APTO office thought the solar panel and hydrogen station would make a good dual project.

The solar panel is here for a one-year demonstration. The base can decide to keep it after that year.

The solar panel is operated by a computer in a nearby building, and it also has its own weather station. If the wind gets too high, the panel will automatically stow, returning to a flat position to avoid any damage. It will even track the sun and produce energy, albeit at a lower level, on a cloudy day.

AccuStrata Wins $150,000 Grant for Solar Panel Manufacturing Technology, Thin Film Auto Pilot Automatically Makes Corrections

The biggest problem with solar panels is they cost too much for the power they generate. AccuStrata Inc. is developing a technology that could change that by lowering manufacturing costs and increasing yield.

The company, based in the University of Maryland’s Technology Advancement Program incubator, just won a $150,000, phase-one Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research grant, its third in six months. AccuStrata will use the grant to refine its field-tested, patent-protected system for monitoring the effectiveness of thin-film solar panel production in real time, enabling manufacturers to make on-the-fly adjustments and ensure panels’ efficiency.

“Solar panels are priced by the electricity they produce, dollar per watt,” says Oscar von Bredow, chief operating officer of AccuStrata. “The ways to make them more affordable are to improve the manufacturing yield or increase the efficiency of the panels so they generate more power.”

AccuStrata’s technology does both. It increases the efficiency of solar panels and saves manufacturers millions of dollars by reducing the number of lower quality panels produced.

Thin-film solar panels are made through a long manufacturing process by depositing layers of different materials, only a few microns thick total, onto a substrate such as a glass panel, metal or plastic roll. The quality of these films largely determines how well the solar panel performs. Depositing the films is a complex process, requiring tight control over many factors, including chemical, optical, and electrical properties, all while maintaining geometrically and structurally uniform films.

The problem is, manufacturers are only able to test efficiency of the panels after they have been made, and if something is wrong, adjustments are only made on the next panel or batch. Lower quality panels are discarded or sold as inferior.

But AccuStrata’s system lets manufacturers know what is going on while the panels are being made, enabling immediate corrections and the production of better panels.

“Currently, manufacturers have no way of knowing how the films are growing inside their deposition chambers, at least until the entire film is deposited,” says Dr. George Atanasoff, president of AccuStrata. “We are giving the manufacturer the ability to know, in real time, what the quality of the film is as it is deposited and how this will affect the final panel quality.”

AccuStrata’s prototype system consists of patented miniature fiber optic sensors installed at specific locations in existing equipment without disrupting the manufacturing process, along with external hardware and software. The system monitors the spectral reflectance and light scattering of films as they are deposited and calculates film properties and their uniformity over the area of the panel, critical for the panel’s final quality.

This summer, AccuStrata installed a prototype in the live production environment of a large solar panel manufacturer. Another installation is just under way.

“As of today, a percent increase in efficiency at a constant price per watt translates into a percent increase in revenue for manufacturers,” says von Bredow. “If our system is able to increase the panel efficiency by only 12-15 percent, as expected, and was adopted by only 25 percent of the $35 billion thin-film solar manufacturing market, it would save over $1 billion by 2013. As prices per watt decrease, manufacturers can lower the price for panels and continue to be profitable. Manufacturers are also able to reduce costs and save energy. This will accelerate solar technology’s ability to achieve grid parity with traditional energy sources.”

The next step is automation. AccuStrata is developing the Thin Film Auto Pilot, which will automatically make corrections during the thin-film solar panel manufacturing process without any human involvement. This new DoE grant supports this research.

The company has acquired more than $1 million in funding from founders, angel investors, and grants. In June, 2009, AccuStrata received a National Science Foundation phase-one SBIR grant for $100,000. In August, 2009, the company won another DOE Supply Chain grant for $150,000. The company also received funding from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) through the Maryland Technology Transfer Fund.

AccuStrata plans to enter additional markets using thin-film deposition, such as nanotechnology, flat panel displays, telecom, medical and military applications.

The company has six employees. It has received two patents, has filed another patent, and is in the process of filing more.

AccuStrata was selected as the Maryland Incubator Company of the Year in 2008 and was again nominated for Maryland Incubator Company of the Year in 2009.

AccuStrata Inc. is a College Park, Md-based company developing an intelligent, real-time optical control system able to improve thin film photovoltaic (solar cell) manufacturing, resulting in higher conversion efficiency and reduced cost. As a result of the company’s solution, solar cells produce more power, resulting in increased revenue and profit for manufacturers.
       
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Kyocera Announces 13MW Ohgishima Solar Power Plant on Artificial Island

Rendering of Planned Ohgishima Solar Power Plant (13MW)

Source: Kyocera

Kyocera Corporation President Tetsuo Kuba announced that it will provide approximately 13 megawatts (MW) of solar modules for the Ohgishima Solar Power Plant “Mega Solar System,” planned by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) with construction by Hitachi, Ltd. Scheduled for completion in 2011, the installation will be one of the largest in Japan, providing electricity for approximately 3,800 homes and off-setting about 5,800 tons of CO2 emissions each year. To promote land-use efficiency, the Kyocera solar modules, covering about 57 acres, will be installed on an artificial island just outside of Tokyo Bay.

Kyocera has a track record of providing solar modules for large-scale power plants in Europe — the world’s largest solar energy market. Kyocera has supplied 13.8MW of modules for Spain’s Planta Solar de Salamanca and other large-scale projects. Governmental subsidies and a planned feed-in-tariff system are increasing demand for solar energy in Japan as well — both for residential applications and among public utility companies, which have confirmed plans to build large-scale solar power plants by 2020.

With over 34 years of experience in the solar business, Kyocera has attained the largest share of Japan’s market for industrial and public solar installations due to the high quality of its products and the trust earned from customers. Kyocera first began research into solar energy in 1975, and over the years has developed a unique fully-integrated production process — allowing the company to ensure high quality by controlling every phase of manufacturing, from procuring raw silicon to producing photovoltaic cells and assembling finished modules.

By developing high-efficiency multicrystalline solar cells for a multitude of applications, Kyocera will continue to contribute to energy independence and the preservation of the global environment.