SCHOTT Solar joins IMEC research program on silicon
photovoltaics
Leuven, Belgium – June 3, 2009 – SCHOTT
Solar, a leading photovoltaics manufacturer, entered into a 3 year research
partnership with IMEC, Europes leading independent nanoelectronics research
center. SCHOTT Solar joins IMECs newly launched silicon photovoltaics
industrial affiliation program (IIAP). Within this multi-partner R&D
program, IMEC aims to explore and develop advanced process technologies to fuel
the steep market growth of silicon solar cells in a sustainable way. The
program will concentrate on a sharp reduction in silicon use, whilst increasing
cell efficiency and hence further lowering substantially the cost per Watt
peak.
By joining the silicon
photovoltaics IIAP, researchers from SCHOTT Solar will be able to closely
collaborate with IMECs research team to build up fundamental understanding and
develop robust solutions for next-generation silicon based solar cells. The
program will bring together silicon solar cell manufacturers, equipment and
material suppliers and is based on a sharing of intellectual property, talent,
risk and cost.
We are excited that one of the
leading photovoltaics manufacturers joins our multi-partner program. Building
on our 25 years track record in silicon solar cells and our successful
experience with Industrial Affiliation Programs on CMOS scaling, we are
confident that we will provide our partners a dynamic research platform for
accelerated process development; said Jef Poortmans, Program Director Solar+
at IMEC.
With over 50 years of experience
in the solar market, including cell technology, SCHOTT Solar is established
leader in the solar industry. In the highly dynamic market of solar power,
short time to market for new products is essential. Therefore, SCHOTT Solar is
pleased to announce that the company has joined the high-level IIAP R&D
program at IMEC, the leading research institute in the field. We support IMECs
ambitious goals and their work towards creating success their partners, said
Dr. Martin Heming, Chief Executive Officer at SCHOTT Solar AG.
Crystalline silicon solar cells
are the workhorse of the photovoltaic industry, having a market share of more
than 90% of the world production of solar cells. Within its IIAP, IMEC aims to
reduce both the cost of producing crystalline silicon solar cells and the
amount of Si/Watt that is needed by half. Efficiencies of about 20% are
targeted.
IMECs program will explore both
wafer-based bulk silicon solar cells and epitaxial cells. Within the bulk-silicon
solar cell sub-program, generic process technology crucial for increased
efficiency and manufacturing cost reduction will be developed. The active
silicon layer thickness will be reduced from 150µm down to 40µm. To meet
efficiencies of about 20%, alternative back-side dielectric stacks and
interdigitated back-side contacts (i-BC) will be introduced in thin-wafers
using a PERL-style (PERL = passivated emitter and rear local back surface
field) concept in an industrial process flow. Cell module integration will be
investigated since reduced wafer thickness will impose specific integration
requirements. As the guaranteed lifetime of cells and modules will further
increase in the next decade from 20-25 years up to 35 years and more,
reliability will also be assessed in depth. And new methods to realize and
handle wafers as thin as 40µm will be pursued. The potential of the technology
will be benchmarked in small area lab cells and large-area solar cells.
Besides the generic bulk silicon
research which is of relevance for any crystalline silicon wafer-based solar
cell technology, epitaxial thin-film (<20µm) silicon solar cells on low-cost
silicon carrier will also be developed. Epitaxial thin-film silicon solar cell
technology is expected to be the intermediate step before mainstream fabs will
switch from bulk silicon solar cells to thin-film solar cells. The process is
generically similar to the bulk process and the epi-process can be implemented
with limited equipment investment. To improve the optical confinement of light
in the active part of the cell, a buried porous Si reflector will be developed.
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Further information is available
under http://www.schottsolar.com
Press photographs are available
for downloading under www.schott-pictures.net
