Page 24 - North American Clean Energy July August 2015

solar energy

Meeting the Challenges in the

Photovoltaic Cell Manufacturing Business

by Stewart Davidson

he challenges facing the photovoltaic industry

of improving solar cell eiciency and reducing

manufacturing costs while making the product
appealing and economical in today’s highly

competitive energy market have not changed.

hese are especially problematic when fossil fuels-
based energy is once again having a resurgence.

Government subsidies enabled a huge expansion of the photovoltaic
industry, but with their removal, the current market conditions become
even more challenging for manufacturers. However, the photovoltaic cell

Figure 1: Heterojunction type solar panel
manufacturing industry has been resilient, and after some reorganization
and consolidation, it is now showing signs of an upturn. While the
challenge is still to reduce costs, new technologies are being integrated

into full scale manufacturing, which
is not only challenging the status
ESO Touch-safe Fuse Cover Know the Eficiency quo on industry costs, but is more
Inserts and Extracts
importantly, increasing the eiciency of

10.3x 38
of your Solar Plant
the photovoltaics. his is all very good
for an industry as a whole and perhaps
indicates the industry is starting to
mature.

Historically, the photovoltaic market
was dominated by thin ilm and the
crystalline (c-Si) photovoltaic cell
manufacturing processes. In the last

few years, the c-Si market has gained
most of the market share, mostly due to
cost. his has been to the detriment and
almost led to the total demise of the thin

ilm amorphous silicon (a-SI) market.
hin ilm Cadmium Telluride (CdTe)
process has been an exception, and has mpliant
been as successful as c-Si, again due to its CAISO Cord
ESO 10.3 x 38 touch-safe fuse cover is designed to safely and WS310
Secondary Standa
securely insert and extract midget fuses from fuse clips.
low cost and high eiciency.
Measurement
- Compact design is touch-safe according to IP20 speciications he resurgence in the photovoltaic
- Rated 32A @ 1500 VAC/VDC
market has seen the c-Si and the thin
- cURus approved when ESO 10.3 x 38 cover is used with
ilm processes join in a new alliance.
SCHURTER CSO fuse clips
- ASO 10.3 x 38 fuse is also available: 1 - 30A @ 1000 VDC
Research shows the new technology
meets gPV compliance to UL 2579; IEC 60269-6
potentially produces a cell of greater
Ideal for PV and other DC applications including inverters, battery eiciency than the traditional c-Si cell
charge controllers, and string fuse holders
WS510
with comparable costs. he technology

Smart Weather Sensor www.lufftsolar.com
doesn’t use CdTe thin ilm layers, but
eso.schurter.com
rather amorphous silicon thin ilm
layers that are introduced into the

more conventional crystalline silicon
photovoltaic cell manufacturing process
in order to generate higher eiciency
solar panels.

Process change and risk
review
his alliance of c-Si and a-Si processes

brings together unique environmental
challenges from both sides. he
manufacture of high eiciency
heterojunction-type photovoltaic panels

introduces an amorphous silicon layer.
he chambers are cleaned using luorine
gas that is often generated by using a
plasma to break down a more benign gas,

24 JULY/AUGUST 2015
nacleanenergy.com