New technique enables much faster production of inexpensive (amorphous silicon) solar cells

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New technique enables much faster production of inexpensive solar cells

14 March 2011 by M&C

TU Delft has demonstrated that the speed at which inexpensive solar cells are produced can be increased by a factor of ten – and that this can be achieved without any detriment to the energy yield of the cells. This will almost certainly result in a further reduction in the price of the cells, which are made of amorphous silicon. On Monday 14 March, Michael Wank defended his thesis on this subject at TU Delft.

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Energy yield

It was for this reason that PhD student Michael Wank concentrated on the new ETP-CVD (expanding thermal plasma chemical vapour deposition)production technique, with which he achieved remarkable success. The production technique was developed by Eindhoven University of Technology; Michael Wank's project, which was subsided by Agentschap NL, was carried out in collaboration with the Plasma and Material Processing group of Professor Richard van de Sanden. The speed of production was eventually increased by a factor of ten, to one nanometre per second, while maintaining a good energy yield (for amorphous silicon) of around 7 per cent.

Obstacle

There was one remaining obstacle Wank had to overcome, though – the fact that the ETP-CVD technique requires a temperature of around 350 degree Celsius in order to make amorphous silicon of the required quality. However, a production temperature of that level causes damage to the solar cells, which affects their energy yield. In order to circumvent this, Wank applied an ion bombardment (charged particles) during the production process. The ions provide the developing surface with sufficient energy, so that production can take place at a much lower and therefore non-harmful temperature of around 200 degrees Celsius.

Industry

"The results of the research are of great interest to industry, which can use the method to make solar cells quickly and inexpensively," says Professor Zeman. "As well as the greater speed, another benefit is that the machines needed for this technology are smaller. All in all, this technique promises to cut the production costs of this type of solar cell considerably."

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