Sep 13 2010
Oerlikon Solar, a company that designs and manufactures production lines for the manufacture of environment-friendly thin film solar modules, has launched its latest production line ‘ThinFab’ for the manufacture of thin film silicon modules that are designed to realize a low level production cost of € 0.50 per Watt peak (Wp).
The company has also developed Micromorph lab cell in coordination with Corning Incorporated, offering a stable efficiency of 11.9% that is tested and confirmed by U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The record breaking performance of the introduced products depicts the performance promise of its thin film silicon technology and its growth potential.
The new ThinFab production line comprises a range of advancements such as incorporating a new genesis of indispensable equipments which includes PECVD, Laser and TCO. The cell structures are lean with reduced level of damage and gas consumption. Stable module efficiency up to 10% (143 Wp per module). Novel module design established with a new backend tool to induce low level energy consumption. Also the ThinFab feature lowers the power payback period of the thin film silicon modules by less than one year due to low level power consumption by the PV plants. The company is planning to introduce upgraded packages for the improved performance, and increased output of the existing production lines.
Dr. Jurg Henz, CEO of Oerlikon Solar, said that the new ThinFab production will change the perceived idea about thin film silicon technology. He added that the new ThinFab and Micromorph production line introductions from the company extend the solar industry to newer technological opportunities. He further said that the newly introduced technologies provide lowest energy payback period when compared to other types of crystalline technologies available in the market.
Source: http://www.oerlikon.com/