Photovoltaics World Launch
12/01/2008
We have been covering the photovoltaics manufacturing industry for quite some time in Solid State Technology and a variety of other PennWell brands, most notably Renewable Energy World, Laser Focus World, Vision Systems Design and Power Engineering. I’m delighted to announce that we are now launching a new magazine devoted specifically to this topic called Photovoltaics World, with the first issue due out in March 2009. We’re also in the process of creating a dedicated website, increasing the frequency of our PV Times newsletter to a weekly, starting in January, and compiling a buyer’s guide.
Most are well aware of the photovoltaics (PV) explosion. By 2020, about 50,000MW (50GW) worth of PV systems will be installed annually, up by a factor of nearly 20X from 2,538MW in 2007. By 2010, as many as 400 production lines in the world that can produce at least 1MW of PV cells per year will be in place, representing a fourfold increase from about 90 to 100 production lines in 2007.
Coverage of Photovoltaics World (or PV World as we’ve come to call it) will focus on solar cell design and manufacture, including cells made of multi-, mono- and nano-crystalline silicon, amorphous thin-film silicon, cadmium telluride, copper indium diselenide (CIS) and GaAs. Multijunction cells and concentrator technology will also be covered.
Photovoltaics technology is all about bandgap engineering and looking for ways to increase cell efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs. The industry has relied heavily on multicyrstalline silicon and a simple p-n junction as the solar cell design-of-choice, but a variety of other approaches are feasible, and many are already in volume production. Approaches range from triple junction cells that are coupled with a sunlight-concentrating lens system, to thin films on glass, metal, or plastic substrates. Thin films are typically amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, or cadmium indium gallium selenide (CIGS); or without the gallium, just CIS. In a thin-film configuration based on amorphous silicon, for example, cells have an ultra-thin (0.008µm) p-type top layer, a thicker (0.5 to 1µm) intrinsic middle layer, and a very thin (0.02µm) n-type bottom layer. This design is called a “p-i-n” structure, named for the three types of layers. The top layer is made so thin and relatively transparent that most light passes right through it, to generate free electrons in the intrinsic layer. The p- and n-layers produced by doping the amorphous silicon create an electric field across the entire intrinsic region, thus inducing electron movement in that i-layer.
Gallium arsenide, the material of the future, also shows great promise. Researchers are exploring several approaches to reducing the cost of GaAs devices. These include placing GaAs cells on cheaper substrates; growing GaAs cells on a removable, reusable GaAs substrate; and making GaAs thin films, similar to those made of copper indium diselenide and cadmium telluride.
What’s particularly exciting to me is how many of the latest advances in PV come from applying know-how originally developed for semiconductor manufacturing, and I expect to see more of the same. Examples abound, but one of my favorites is Advent Solar (Albuquerque, N.M.), which is bringing advanced semiconductor technology to the PV industry. Using epi-filled through silicon vias (TSVs) and the equivalent of wafer-level packaging, the company has developed a new method, which enables a back contact approach that reduces a 3-4% loss in efficiency from front-side conductors. They also claim lower cell processing and interconnect costs compared to other backside contact technologies.
One of the great strengths of PV World is that we will be able to combine the deep technical strength of Solid State Technology in fields such as silicon and bandgap engineering, with the global perspective and insight of Renewable Energy World in matters such as PV policy and market trends.
I’m also pleased to announce that we will be launching two new corresponding conferences/expositions on PV manufacturing in 2010, one in the U.S. and one in Europe, to be held in conjunction with existing Renewable Energy World Conferences & Expos.
As always, if you have ideas for news or features, or any questions about PV World, please feel to get in touch with me at 603-891-9217 or [email protected]
 |
Pete Singer
Editor-in-Chief