MANUFACTURINGMATERIALS
The introduction of green manufacturing technologies and processes currently suffers the same fate as the implementation of novel cell concepts: the commercialisation of complex solutions associated with high financial spending such as the back contact cells are being postponed. Instead, manufacturers focus on the less expensive optimisation of standard cells contenting themselves with moderate efficiency gains
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investment does pay off through energy and raw material savings, he says, but the exact amortisation period differs from case to case. What is key though: those investing many millions of Euros must know the time for their return on investment. After ten years it would probably be too late since the factory design and fittings would be obsolete considering the high speed of innovations in PV. As a result, the green factory would be fit for demolition before it yields a profit.
Moreover, recession has put a brake on investment. Many producers have faced declining sales and profits. “At a time like this major spending is taboo,” says Kevin Reddig of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation in Stuttgart. The introduction of
green manufacturing technologies and processes currently suffers the same fate as the implementation of novel cell concepts: the commercialisation of complex solutions associated with high financial spending such as the back contact cells are being postponed. Instead, manufacturers focus on the less expensive optimisation of standard cells contenting themselves with moderate efficiency gains.
Since “green” is expensive, its profitability is vague and the sector is forced to save we will see a rather gentle transition to Triple Green. “Green will come carefully dosed,“ says Maiser of VDMA. Lee at SEMI refers to the developments in the semi- conductor industry, which took years to sizeably reduce its consumption. By their own accounts, it took STMicroelectronics, Europe’s largest semi- conductor producer, from 1994 to 2009 to reduce its CO2-emissions by 65 percent, its energy consumption by 54 percent , its water consumption by 70 percent and its waste by 71 percent.
Not made for manual handling: Brazing individual solar cells to form strings is a hot topic: many brazing metals contain poisonous lead. (Photo: Aleo Solar)
Today, the solar sector stands where the chip industry used to be 15 years ago. The solar group Solarworld does not build a Greenfab but first creates transparency in its Sustainability Report for all its relevant environmental data and that of its upstream suppliers thereby paving the way for green investment. Module maker Solon pursues the same avenue: it has spent EUR 200,000 on a new environmental management system to gain an overview of where sustainable solutions make business sense at all. These companies are guaranteed to reach the next green milestone – but presumably only after the crisis.
www.solar-pv-management.com Issue VI 2010
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