|
|
News - PV-Tech
| Live News Feed |
|
|
Arise has finished its restructuring process and is in the midst of completing projects and courting new clients. The company plans to provide a complete system integration service for its customers. Arise noted that it has severed its German cell manufacturing facility and the silicon R&D segments. Additionally, the company added a new finacing component to its systems division to help clients complete a lease option.
more… |
|
|
JinkoSolar Holdings has opened a PV module testing lab in Jiangxi, China, which was awarded the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Witness Testing Data Program (WTDP) certificate. The company worked with UL to obtain certification and will now be able to offer customers and third party’s testing facilities, under the supervision of UL personnel, with an aim to ensure high quality and expedite the time to market.
more… |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
| Technology FAQ’s |
|
| FAQ’s |
|
|
| What are CIGS PV modules? |
CIGS is a compound semiconductor material containing Copper, Indium, Gallium, and Selenium. This material exhibits the appropriate electronic properties to absorb the sun’s rays and convert light to electricity. CIGS has demonstrated the ability to convert nearly 20% of incident light into usable electricity.
ISET manufactures photovoltaic (PV) modules using CIGS material to harness the energy in sunlight as a clean, renewable source of electricity. CIGS solar cells can be constructed on flexible as well as on rigid materials, allowing for exciting and innovative product designs for a wide variety of applications. Most importantly, CIGS modules can be produced for very low cost, with great potential to make a large contribution to the World’s energy supply in the near future. |
| What makes ISET’s modules so Low-Cost? |
| ISET produces CIGS layers only 1.5µm thick by printing ink over the exact area where it will be chemically converted into active solar cells. The cost-saving advantages of this technique include: |
- drastically reduced materials costs
- economical production equipment
- reduced defects (high yield) due to tight process control
- energy-efficient production process
|
For more details on ISET’s process, click here.
To explore how ISET’s process compares with other technologies, click here. |
| Does ISET use Cadmium in its CIGS modules? |
| Presently, ISET uses cadmium only in the Cadmium Sulfide buffer layer of the CIGS cells. This layer is less than 0.1 µm thick and contributes to the collection of electric charge within the solar cell. ISET is currently investigating methods for eliminating cadmium use entirely, and has confidence that this can be achieved in the near term without impacting the high quality and performance of our CIGS modules. |
| Will the availability of Indium affect ISET’s production of CIGS modules? |
|
| ISET applies a precisely controlled amount of Indium to each printed PV module. By efficiently managing our materials utilization, ISET requires only 1.86 g/m2 to produce high quality absorber films. Even at 2008 prices, when Indium sold for $1000/kg, the cost of Indium in ISET’s CIGS modules is only $0.02-0.03/Watt. ISET’s moderate and responsible use of Indium ensures that supply variations will not place any stress on the productivity of our module manufacturing. |
| Can ISET produce flexible modules using Roll-to-Roll processing? |
Yes. ISET’s printable CIGS manufacturing technology is potentially a great match for deployment in a roll-to-roll (R2R) format.
Many thin-film PV manufacturers are developing R2R processes in order to increase process throughput, reduce manufacturing costs, and rapidly ramp up to high volume production. However, R2R techniques only provide for the handling of production material as it proceeds through sequential process steps. They cannot fully offset the high cost penalties of a thin-film technology that poorly utilizes expensive materials.
Other difficulties arise as PV start-ups attempt to optimize and scale R2R production lines while simultaneously developing their fundamental thin-film process technologies. The complexity that results can lead to extended delays and steep development costs.
ISET’s technology has been fully developed as a result of over 25 years of applied research. R2R production has been successfully applied to printing technologies in many industries and can provide additional cost advantages to ISET’s low-cost CIGS process.
For more information on ISET’s Manufacturing Approach, click here. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
