Solar ♦ news digest
able to reach a new world record of 23.5% solar module efficiency. This result was confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Lab. In addition to underscoring various previously disclosed techniques for overcoming the cost and complexity of using GaAs, the presentation explained how Alta was able to maintain its efficiency advantage while creating flexible sheets that can be of nearly any size. Specifically, Mattos revealed that Alta’s solar cells are self–interconnected in a way that maximises the light captured by the thin, flexible sheets.
Mattos explained, “Traditionally, when solar cells are interconnected to form a module, conversion efficiency is compromised because active solar material is covered with metal busbars and wires, preventing some of the light from entering the cells. In addition, gaps between cells create areas of the module that are not able to convert incident light to electrical energy.”
“The key to improving solar performance at the module level is to avoid these problems. Enabled by our cell flexibility, we use a self–interconnected technology that eliminates the wires, thus maximizing the cells’ exposure to incident light. The self–interconnected cells form a flexible sheet with no gaps and that can be of any size or aspect ratio,” concluded Mattos.
According to Norris, construction of Alta’s pilot manufacturing facility is underway, with expectations of material available by the beginning of 2013. “We take every step of our business systematically and don’t underestimate the challenges. We are committed to thinking differently about solar energy and how it is used, and are dedicated to realising its potential to improve lives around the world.”
Intermolecular and First Solar to accelerate CdTe solar PV roadmap
The joint venture will leverage Intermolecular’s high productivity combinatorial platform towards achieving higher cadmium telluride solar panel efficiencies
CdTe solar power innovator First Solar and Intermolecular have signed a licensing agreement aimed at accelerating the efficiency roadmap for First Solar’s CdTe photovoltaic (PV) technology. First Solar is one of the world’s largest thin film PV solar module manufacturers .
Under a newly signed collaborative development program, First Solar will leverage Intermolecular’s High Productivity Combinatorial (HPC) platform in the development of its advanced, CdTe-based, thin film PV manufacturing technology.
The program addresses new opportunities in certain critical materials and processes that may significantly influence the conversion efficiency of CdTe technology. Technical work is to be performed jointly at Intermolecular’s San Jose, California, facility and in First Solar’s research and development labs.
“We are excited to engage in this ongoing collaboration with Intermolecular,” says Raffi Garabedian, First Solar Chief Technology Officer. “Further improving our world-record CdTe conversion efficiencies remains a strong lever to reduce the cost of solar energy. We evaluated Intermolecular’s HPC platform and technical team in a trial collaboration, and this experience confirmed the suitability of the platform for our purposes.”
First Solar set a world record for CdTe PV solar module efficiency in January 2012, achieving 14.4 percent total area efficiency. In July 2011, the company set a world record for CdTe PV cell efficiency at 17.3 percent. Both records were confirmed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).
Craig Hunter, Intermolecular’s senior vice president of Global Sales & Marketing, comments, “Leveraging our HPC platform to accelerate the PV roadmap is central to our mission at Intermolecular. Today’s announcement with First Solar - a market leader in PV and the undisputed champion in thin film PV - represents tremendous validation of that proposition, particularly given the extensive technical due diligence the First Solar team conducted prior to entering into this agreement.”
Intermolecular’s mission is to improve R&D efficiency in the semiconductor and clean-energy industries through collaborations that use its HPC
July 2012
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