RESEARCHSPOTLIGHT
Loughborough’s track record in solar
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Mention Loughborough University and the conversation usually turns to sport and how this University has long been a breeding ground for International sports stars and Olympic athletes. Famous alumni include Sebastian Coe, Steve Backley, Paula Radcliffe…the list goes on. In solar circles, the University is now making a name for itself as a centre for photovoltaic research and development. In particular, CREST, the University’s Centre for Renewable Energy Systems and Technology, is establishing a reputation for working on successful PV projects relevant to today’s industrial requirements. Here, Michael Walls one of the Loughborough PV team, outlines some of the capabilities on offer.
C
REST was set up in 1993 following a generous donation to Loughborough
University by Tony Marmont a successful local entrepreneur and philanthropist. Since then, the Centre has grown steadily and is now housed in an impressive facility in the University’s Holywell Park research complex. CREST now has state of the art facilities for crystalline silicon, thin film and excitonic photovoltaics, world class cell and module testing, together with strong activities in concentrators, BIPV and solar-thermal. Relevance and co-operation are the key words used to describe the ethos of the Centre. CREST welcomes the opportunity to work with solar companies and other research organisations throughout the world. Here we outline some of the activities at CREST.
Crystalline silicon PV
Crystalline silicon (c-Si) is the dominant technology for today’s photovoltaic modules representing over 80% of the market in 2009. Leading manufacturers produce cells with efficiencies over 20%. c-Si solar panels have exhibited excellent long term reliability and performance over decades of utilization. The challenge for c-Si, as with the other technologies, is cost reduction.
The c-Si Laboratory at Loughborough has facilities on an industrial pilot plant scale with two diffusion furnaces, Nd-Yag and a Copper Vapour lasers (CVL), wet chemical benches, electroless plating and a two reactive sputtering units. The Lab has capability to produce both screen printed silicon cells and Laser Grooved Buried Contacts (LGBC).
The cost of the processed silicon wafer represents a significant fraction of the cost of the PV module. Research at CREST is focused on reducing this cost either by thinning the wafer while maintaining efficiency or by using lower cost silicon reclaimed from electronics applications. Research is also underway on Concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems in which optically concentrated sunlight is focused on smaller area cells thereby cutting the cost of the bulk material. CPV is best achieved using cells with LGBC contacts, a specialist technology at CREST.
Thin Film Photovoltaics
Thin film photovoltaics, and particularly those based on CdTe absorbers are rapidly gaining market share. In 2009, First Solar Inc, a thin film CdTe manufacturer shipped over 1GW of capacity making it the largest PV company world-wide.
www.solar-pv-management.com Issue V 2010
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