III-Vs at Scale: A PV Manufacturing Cost Analysis of the Thin Film Vapor-Liquid-Solid Growth Mode

Maxwell Zheng, Kelsey Horowitz, Michael Woodhouse, Corsin Battaglia, Rehan Kapadia, Ali Javey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus Citations

Abstract

The authors present a manufacturing cost analysis for producing thin-film indium phosphide modules by combining a novel thin-film vapor-liquid-solid (TF-VLS) growth process with a standard monolithic module platform. The example cell structure is ITO/n-TiO2/p-InP/Mo. For a benchmark scenario of 12% efficient modules, the module cost is estimated to be $0.66/W(DC) and the module cost is calculated to be around $0.36/W(DC) at a long-term potential efficiency of 24%. The manufacturing cost for the TF-VLS growth portion is estimated to be ~$23/m2, a significant reduction compared with traditional metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The analysis here suggests the TF-VLS growth mode could enable lower-cost, high-efficiency III-V photovoltaics compared with manufacturing methods used today and open up possibilities for other optoelectronic applications as well.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)871-878
Number of pages8
JournalProgress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
Volume24
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-6A20-63271

Keywords

  • cost
  • III-Vs
  • InP
  • manufacturing
  • modules
  • thin-films

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'III-Vs at Scale: A PV Manufacturing Cost Analysis of the Thin Film Vapor-Liquid-Solid Growth Mode'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this