September 2011 - I-Micronews

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S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 I S S U E N ° 1 3 C O N T E N T S INDUSTRY REVIEW 4 • The HCPV sector starts to talk in megawatts Makers of concentrating photovoltaic systems are at last installing systems measured in megawatts, and even getting a few utility power purchase agreements for future 100+MW systems. • Maturing HCPV supply chain looks to volume production issues Once the HCPV industry starts shipping hundreds of megawatts, its supply chain will have to transition to volume production as well. And a high volume business can’t be built all on custom components and custom assembly equipment. COMPANY INSIGHT 12 • Trident Solar: Progress on solar inkjet Longer lasting print heads and combo processes could make inkjet a viable alternative for next generation solar cell processing. • ESI: Progress on laser technology opens new process options Tailored-pulse laser targets more precise micromachining across PV processes. ANALYST CORNER 16 • The future of photovoltaics is inescapably about efficiency As efficiency becomes the key differentiator among solar brands, it means opportunity for new equipment processes and higher purity materials, and perhaps even for HCPV. FROM I-MICRONEWS.COM Please visit our website to discover the last top stories in Photovoltaics: Stay connected with your peers on i-Micronews.com With 18,000 monthly visitors, i-Micronews.com provides for Photovoltaics area: current news, market & technological analysis, key leader interviews, webcasts section, reverse engineering / costing, events calendar, latest reports … > Solopower receives $197 million loan guarantee from US DOE to build thin film photovoltaic module facilities > GT Advanced Technologies announces Korea-based polysilicon producer OCI selects the newest generation SDR reactors as part of its phase 4 expansion program > Dow Corning begins monosilane production GOLD PARTNERS: For more information, please contact S. Leroy (leroy@yole.fr) or B. Stinson (stinson@i-micronews.com) 2 P V M a n u f a c t u r i n g
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 I S S U E N ° 1 3 E D I T O R I A L Looking outside the mainstream at emerging approaches to improve PV efficiency Ramping low cost gigawatt-scale volume production has grown PV to a 40 GWp business, according to Yole Développement fi gures, but the focus is now turning to improving effi ciency to gain distinguishing competitive advantage in the crowded market. In this issue of PVManufacturing we look at the state of some emerging approaches to higher effi ciency solar installations, from High Concentration PV (HCPV) to developments in inkjet and laser components for PV equipment. …When overall enddemand slows down, these innovative solutions can help companies again generate growth… E V E N T S HCPV remains a tiny business of small-scale installations to date, but the sector made a big step up from mostly kilowatt-scale to multiple 1-2 megawatt-scale projects last year. The leading companies now have 10MW-scale or larger projects in the pipeline. Moving to these volumes means the HCPV sector will need to add volume automated production capacity and fi gure out how to work more closely with its supply chain to optimize component design for manufacturing—and that has potential to signifi cantly bring down costs. Some components suppliers are also trying to jumpstart co-design to improve performance by getting together to test, optimize and publish data on how different primary optics, secondary optics and multijunction cells work together. Concentrator Optics, Isuzu Glass and AZUR SPACE are testing results in mockup test HCPV modules made from their components, and next plan to work with equipment suppliers to design production systems for the optimal components. The recent growth of HCPV installations in the US is partly because of the favorable economics for the technology of high DNI desert climate conditions conveniently near big population centers that particularly need power for air conditioning late on summer afternoons when HCPV outperforms fl at plate PV, but it has also been spurred by government requirements for aggressive new renewable energy portfolio standards for utilities, and by local efforts to create manufacturing jobs. If the technology is going to compete more widely with fl at panel PV, it will now need “muscle, manufacturing and money” as Amonix CTO and chairman Vahan Garboushian says, to transition to a volume manufacturing business, and to keep improving effi ciency and cost as fast as the fl at plate PV sector does, when that much larger industry can pour vastly more resources into the effort. • European PVSEC September 5 to 9, 2011 – Hamburg, Germany • Semicon Europa October 11 to 13, 2011 – Dresden, Germany • PV Japan December 5 to 7, 2011 – Tokyo, Japan PLATINUM PARTNERS: The fl at panel PV side’s pursuit of higher effi ciencies of course continues to generate innovative alternatives to the common processes. And when overall end-demand slows down, these innovative solutions can help companies again generate growth. So we also take a look in this issue at recent developments in laser and inkjet technology that have interesting potential for new equipment processes to improve results. Controlled micromachining by ESI’s tailored-pulse fi ber laser is showing some interesting results for precise scribing and via drilling. Trident Solar is using its industrial stainless steel inkjet head that holds up to aggressive chemicals to develop a process for printing etchant and dopant for selective emitters by one pass of a single ink. Arnaud Duteil Market & Technology analyst Yole Développement duteil@yole.fr P V M a n u f a c t u r i n g 3 For more information, please contact S. Leroy (leroy@yole.fr) or B. Stinson (stinson@i-micronews.com)
Page 1: PV Manufacturing SEPTEMBER 2011 ISS
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September 2011 - I-Micronews

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