A stealthy Georgia-based start-up that manufactures high value crystalline silicon solar cells has opened the first solar factory in the Southeastern US. Located in the Atlanta metro area, the manufacturing facility will create over 100 high-paying, permanent green jobs by year-end 2009 and even more as it ramps to full production capacity in 2010.
Increasing efficiency
The company, called Suniva, claim its cells operate at about 18 percent efficiency, near 50 percent better than the average cell produced today. They hope to increase cell efficiency to over 20% by 2011 by implementing three improvements in cell design.
- An improved set of screen-printed contacts. While screen-printing of solar cell gridlines is now a standard practice in the industry, Suniva has adjusted processing parameters and paste to improve contact performance.
- An improved high sheet-resistance emitter to increase response from the blue end of the solar spectrum (where photons are more energetic) and raise the current level of the device.
- An improved dielectric passivation layer to minimize recombination of electrons with holes and reflect light for a second pass through the active layer. By improving this passivation, fewer photogenerated carriers are lost at the surfaces and the power output of the cell is increased.
Reducing costs
Using low cost processes and no exotic materials, means that fewer cells are needed to build modules of comparable output. Shrinking the size of these modules has the effect of reducing the cost of module materials, module support structure and installation time. By also reducing cell thickness from 220 µm (microns) to about 150 µm while maintaining cell efficiency, raw material costs, the largest single component by far in the cost equation, can be cut dramatically.
The future
The Suniva vision is that for PV to achieve its full potential, eventually without subsidies, the technology must ultimately be cost-effective to compete with base-load electricity pricing, not just peak-load pricing. They are working towards helping their customers achieve the U.S. Department of Energy's (DoE's) Solar America Initiative (SAI) target of $<1.00 Wp (peak watt) for finished PV modules before 2015. That is commonly referred to as grid parity, competing with conventional power stations, though the precise tipping point varies by country. Some manufacturers of the new printed photovoltaics beyond silicon think they can get there earlier. Eventually, the final installed cost for a PV power system with "Suniva inside" will deliver power at the level of about $0.10/kW-h the company claim. This is far better than most experts envisage the potential for crystalline or amorphous silicon.
Suniva has existing contracts with solar module manufacturers all over the world worth a US$1 billion for their solar cells. They hope to benefit further from the clean energy agenda of President Barack Obama.
Obama has said finding ways to expand the country's alternative energy industry is one way he hopes to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, create jobs and lift the economy.
Suniva is a spin-off of Georgia Institute of Technology's University Center of Excellence in Photovoltaics, a research group founded in 1992 by the university.
For more attend the conference Photovoltaics Beyond Conventional Silicon Europe and read Printed and Thin Film Photovoltaics and Batteries.
Reference and image: Suniva
