Cost Reduction Technology for High-Efficiency Photovoltaics: Research Issues and Progress

J. Benner

doi:10.1109/PVSC.1991.169170

Cost Reduction Technology for High-Efficiency Photovoltaics: Research Issues and Progress

J. Benner

Materials Science

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

4 Scopus Citations

Abstract

An overview is presented of the Department of Energy (DOE) photovoltaic program's research on III-V solar cells directed toward establishing the base of technology necessary to design lower cost production processes and improve the reliability of manufacturing projections. It is shown that cost reduction in the high-efficiency technologies requires a three-pronged attack. First, increasing the efficiency is still the most direct path to lowering the cost of photovoltaic (PV) modules, provided that the additional device sophistication does not add cost. The second prong is to improve the technologies for crystal growth. Production cost factors related to large-area uniformity, yield, process safety, and source utilization efficiency are inseparable from the more esoteric scientific issues such as thermal geometry, reaction chemistry, crystallographic orientation effects, spinodal decomposition, and interdiffusion. Finally, an improved technology and new concepts are needed to eliminate the cost of consuming a crystalline substrate.

Original language	American English
Pages	7-11
Number of pages	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1991.169170
State	Published - 1992
Event	The Conference Record of the Twenty-Second IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1991 - Las Vegas, NV, USA Duration: 7 Oct 1991 → 11 Oct 1991

Conference

Conference	The Conference Record of the Twenty-Second IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1991
City	Las Vegas, NV, USA
Period	7/10/91 → 11/10/91

NREL Publication Number

SERI/CP-214-4562

Access to Document

10.1109/PVSC.1991.169170

Cite this

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abstract = "An overview is presented of the Department of Energy (DOE) photovoltaic program's research on III-V solar cells directed toward establishing the base of technology necessary to design lower cost production processes and improve the reliability of manufacturing projections. It is shown that cost reduction in the high-efficiency technologies requires a three-pronged attack. First, increasing the efficiency is still the most direct path to lowering the cost of photovoltaic (PV) modules, provided that the additional device sophistication does not add cost. The second prong is to improve the technologies for crystal growth. Production cost factors related to large-area uniformity, yield, process safety, and source utilization efficiency are inseparable from the more esoteric scientific issues such as thermal geometry, reaction chemistry, crystallographic orientation effects, spinodal decomposition, and interdiffusion. Finally, an improved technology and new concepts are needed to eliminate the cost of consuming a crystalline substrate.",

author = "J. Benner",

year = "1992",

doi = "10.1109/PVSC.1991.169170",

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AB - An overview is presented of the Department of Energy (DOE) photovoltaic program's research on III-V solar cells directed toward establishing the base of technology necessary to design lower cost production processes and improve the reliability of manufacturing projections. It is shown that cost reduction in the high-efficiency technologies requires a three-pronged attack. First, increasing the efficiency is still the most direct path to lowering the cost of photovoltaic (PV) modules, provided that the additional device sophistication does not add cost. The second prong is to improve the technologies for crystal growth. Production cost factors related to large-area uniformity, yield, process safety, and source utilization efficiency are inseparable from the more esoteric scientific issues such as thermal geometry, reaction chemistry, crystallographic orientation effects, spinodal decomposition, and interdiffusion. Finally, an improved technology and new concepts are needed to eliminate the cost of consuming a crystalline substrate.

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T2 - The Conference Record of the Twenty-Second IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1991

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ER -

Cost Reduction Technology for High-Efficiency Photovoltaics: Research Issues and Progress

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