Abstract
We describe work focused on reducing the cost per watt of Cz silicon photovoltaic modules under Phase I of Siemens Solar Industries' DOE/NREL PVMaT 4A subcontract. Module cost components are analyzed and solutions to high-cost items are discussed in terms of specific module designs. The approaches of using larger cells and modules to reduce per-part processing cost, and of minimizing yield lossare particularly leveraging. Yield components for various parts of the fabrication process and various types of defects are shown, and measurements are given of the force required to break wafers throughout the cell fabrication sequence. The most significant type of manufacturing processes at Siemens Solar Industries is described. Module configurations prototyped during Phase I of this projectand scheduled to begin production in Phase II have a projected cost-per-wat reduction of 19%.
Original language | American English |
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Number of pages | 42 |
State | Published - 1998 |
Bibliographical note
Work performed by Siemens Solar Industries, Camarillo, CaliforniaNREL Publication Number
- NREL/SR-520-24065
Keywords
- cost analysis
- CZ Czochralski silicon
- photovoltaics (PV)
- PVMAT