Crystalline silicon solar module technology: Towards the 1 € per watt‐peak goal

Abstract

Crystalline silicon solar module manufacturing cost is analysed, from feedstock to final product, regarding the equipment, labour, materials, yield losses and fixed cost contributions. Data provided by European industrial partners are used to describe a reference technology and to obtain its cost breakdown. The analysis of the main cost drivers allows to define new generation technologies suitable to reduce module cost towards the short-term goal of 1 s per watt-peak. This goal roughly corresponds with the cost level needed to enable 'grid parity': the situation solar electricity becomes competitive with retail electricity. The new technologies are described and their costs are analysed. Cost reductions due to scale effects in production are also assessed for next generation manufacturing plants with capacities in the range of several hundreds of megawatts to one gigawatt of module power per year, which are to come in the near future. The combined effects of technology development and economies of scale bring the direct manufacturing costs of wafer-based crystalline silicon solar modules down into the range of 0Á9-1Á3 s per watt-peak, according to current insights and information (the range results from differences between technologies as well as from uncertainties per technology).

Laser‐fired contact optimization in c‐Si solar cells

“…Laser scribing for thin film solar cell isolation [1] and laser etch in crystalline solar cells [2,3] are nowadays industrial realities.…”

Silicon Quantum Dots for Photovoltaics: A Review

“…The market for photovoltaic technology -mainly based on silicon -showed exponential growth rates in the last twenty years, and manufacturing costs of silicon based solar models in the range of ~1$/W p should be achieved in the near future (Del Cañizo et al, 2009). With an estimate of about ~40 GW of electricity produced by solar photovoltaic power for the year 2010 the contribution to worldwide electricity generation is still negligible, if compared with the average total worldwide power consumption of 15 Terawatts (TW).…”

The impact of silicon feedstock on the PV module cost

“…[5,8,9]. Their characteristics are defined for large-scale industrial production, in the range 500-1000 MWp/a, which benefits from economy-of-scale savings, a high level of automation and integration of the different steps in the PV valué chain.…”

“…Both aims are related since an important cost driver of the SoG-Si processes is the energy cost. It is important, nevertheless, to analyze the entire manufacturing chain, from the feedstock to the PV module, considering the fact that the influence on module cost is related to cost, utilisation, and quality of the SoG-Si feedstock material [4,5].…”