Effective Interfaces in Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Conference · Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2005.1488290· OSTI ID:15016495

Wang, T H; Iwaniczko, E; Page, M R; Levi, D H; Yan, Y; Yelundur, V; Branz, H M; Rohatgi, A; Wang, Q

This paper reviews the current commercial status of CuInSe2 alloys (collectively, CIS) and CdTe-based photovoltaic (PV) modules, comparing the performance of commercial products with the results achieved for solar cell and prototype module champions. We provide an update for these PV cell and module technologies, and also compare CIS and CdTe performance levels to the results achieved by the crystalline Si PV industry. This comparison shows that CIS and CdTe module technology presently offers the best (and perhaps only) approach for significantly exceeding the cost/performance levels established by crystalline Si PV technologies. A semi-empirical methodology is used for comparing ''champion'' solar cell and prototype module data with performance achieved on manufacturing lines. Using a conservative assumption that thin-film technologies will eliminate the 40% of PV module costs arising from the Si wafer or ribbon, we estimate the future performance of all established PV module candidates, and conclude that, based on 2004 knowledge about each PV technology, CIS and CdTe should provide cost-competitive advantages over crystalline Si.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-99-GO10337
• OSTI ID: 15016495
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-520-37457; TRN: US200513%%519
• Resource Relation: Conference: Prepared for the 31st IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference and Exhibition, Lake Buena Vista, FL (US), 01/03/2005--01/07/2005; Other Information: PBD: 1 Feb 2005
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALLOYS
HETEROJUNCTIONS
MANUFACTURING
PERFORMANCE
SILICON
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR ENERGY
PV
HYDROGENATED AMORPHOUS SILICON (A-SI:H)
HOT-WIRE CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (HWCVD)
SILICON HETEROJUNCTION (SHJ)
INTERFACE RECOMBINATION
FLOAT-ZONE (FZ)
EMITTER DEPOSITION
SOLAR ENERGY - PHOTOVOLTAICS