Programm Photovoltaik Ausgabe 2009 ... - Bundesamt für Energie BFE

Introduction / Project Goals
The goal of the project was to develop the equipment and the processes for cost-effective roll-to-roll
production of high-efficiency thin-film modules. For this purpose, the different aspects necessary for a
successful implementation of this production technology were considered simultaneously; indeed solar
cell processing, monolithic interconnection, encapsulation and machinery were intensively studied in a
close collaboration between the different partners.
Project description and approach
Specifically, The FLEXCELLENCE project aims at developing the equipment and the processes for
the production of cost-effective and high efficiency flexible photovoltaic modules with a focus on:
� In line roll-to-roll process, plastic and metallic substrates.
� Si:H, µc-Si:H, and a-Si/µc-Si micromorph solar cells.
� Si deposition: VHF and MW-PECVD, HW-CVD.
To reach these goals, a collaborative and non-competitive consortium with complementary competences
was set-up. It includes two equipment manufacturers, Roth&Rau (R&R) and Carl Baasel Lasertechnik
(ROFIN), one module producer, VHF-Technologies (VHF), two research institutions Energy
Research Center of the Netherland (ECN) and the Fraunhofer Institut für Elektronenstrahl und Plasmatechnik
(FEP), and three universities, the University of Barcelona (UBA), the University of Ljubljana
(UL-FEE) and the University of Neuchâtel (IMT), with various expertises in the field of solar cell fabrication,
roll-to-roll processing, and opto-electronic simulations. Fig.1 describes the partners and their
tasks within the consortium.
Fig. 1: The Flexcellence consortium
A short review of some major activities
During the three years of the project, the following different aspects were studied simultaneously.
A new 50cm width VHF-PECVD electrode prototype was developed in collaboration with VHF-
Technologies/Flexcell, IMT and the Plasma Physics Research Centre at the EPFL as subcontractor.
This prototype was successfully designed, tested and eighteen months later the first complete a-Si
modules could be processed with equivalent performances as those prepared using the previous narrower
reactor. The new electrode design was used in the setting up of the new 25 MW production
capacity plant at VHF-Technologies.
Flexcellence, V. Terrazoni, IMT Neuchâtel
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