PowerGuard(R) Advanced Manufacturing: PVMaT Phase II Technical Progress Report, 1 July 1999 - 30 September 2000

This project introduced incremental improvements to PowerGuard system components and manufacturing processes to significantly reduce the costs of a PowerGuard system. The improvement resulted in a lower cost, higher impact PV product. During Phase II, these accomplishments have resulted in: A production rate of greater than 400 PowerGuard tiles per shift (20 MW/year) manufacturing capacity; 57%cost reduction for PowerGuard tile; UL listing for four additional PowerGuard tiles configurations; Improved quality of finished goods due to improved tooling and processes in manufacturing, simultaneously improving throughput and lowering cost of $3.80Wp for large systems. In Phase III of this contract, PowerLight will continue efforts to improve the manufacturing processes for PowerGuard.Specific performance objectives during phase III are as follows: Demonstrate system cost reduction from $3.80/Wp to $3.05/Wp for large systems; Establish or assess the performance of dedicated PowerGuard PV module plant capacity of 2 MW per year; Complete wind tunnel testing of all design refinements; Produce an installation manual and training program for installing PowerGuard systems;Establish performance of manufacturing modifications based on assessment of commercial systems which incorporate the new features and processes; and Finalize UL, International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), and international listings of PowerGuard improvements. These are expected tp result in a lower cost, higher impact PV product, as sought by this program.