Weekly Intelligence Brief
Intelligence Brief 20 April – 4 May
4 May 2010
Companies and organisations mentioned in this round-up include: Oregon State University, Yeungman University of Korea, The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa), Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW), United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Würth Solar, FTL Solar, Sun Well Solar, First Solar, Solar Cells Inc.
Low-cost continuous flow method for CIS could be “game changer”
Researchers in the US and Korea have demonstrated feasibility to use continuous flow microreactors to produce thin film absorbers for solar cells, a process they say is a promising low-cost alternative for thin film PV manufacturing.
The new technique, developed by the Oregon State University, will produce CIGS thin films with chemical bath deposition, by using continuous nanostructure flow microreactors.
Thin film photovoltaic cells could be produced in a safer, faster and cheaper manner by using continuous flow microreactors, which are special nanostructure films where chemical reactions take place.
Previous approaches dependent upon sputtering, evaporation, and electrodeposition have been labeled time-consuming and require expensive vacuum systems or exotic chemicals, which raise production costs.
An alternative is a low-cost chemical bath deposition technique, normally performed as a batch process; however, thickness is difficult to control due to changes in the growth solution, and also is limited by depletion of reactants.
The technology developed by Oregon state University assistant professor Chih-hung Chang and collaborators at Yeungnam University in Korea deposits nanostructure films on various surfaces in a continuous flow microreactor, which they say is a safer, faster, and more economical than other chemical solution approaches.
In a statement Chang said that this system can produce thin-film solar absorbers on a glass substrate in a short time, and that's quite significant and a first for this technique.
It has been reported that future work will focus on process control, testing the finished solar cell, improving efficiency to rival vacuum-based technology, and scaling the process to commercialization.
"If we could produce roofing products that cost-effectively produced solar energy at the same time, that would be a game changer," Chang said.
"All solar applications are ultimately a function of efficiency, cost and environmental safety, and these products might offer all of that."
Japan to launch thin film powered spacecraft
The Japanese space agency is close to launching a thin film solar panel powered “space yacht according to local reports and a timesonline.com article.
“In three weeks’ time, in a trial run that is expected to captivate space researchers and science-fiction writers alike, a Mitsubishi H-IIA rocket will be sent into orbit from the island of Tanegashima and release its small satellite into the void,” said the timesonline.com report.
Over the following six months — and if the theory of “solar yacht” propulsion holds up — Ikaros will begin its silent journey towards Venus, driven by only the tiny but relentless force of solar particles buffeting the sail.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) has explained that Ikaros stands for Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun.
A larger version of the vessel could eventually travel at tens of thousands of miles per hour without any fuel, said reports.
The sail is designed to exploit the behaviour of photons, the particles that leave the Sun carrying energy in the form of heat, light and — critically for the space yacht — momentum.
If the sail were “shot” with the more targeted light of a laser, a solar yacht could theoretically achieve speeds of 500,000 mph.
The sail, which cost about £10 million to create, is about the thickness of a Cellophane sandwich wrapper (32.5 micrometers) and covered with a second experimental material — so-called “thin film” solar panels, which also have potential applications on Earth.
Russia is close to producing a version of the space yacht and much of the material science behind the sails has been developed in the United States, said the timesonline.com report.
Germany´s ZSW hits record CIGS efficiency of 20.1%
The Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research, ZSW), Germany, has announced that its new copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS) thin-film solar cell has an efficiency of 20.1 percent, a new world record, according to a Nanotechnology Now report.
The United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) had held this record for the past 16 years.
This breakthrough in materials development is expected to significantly improve the cost-effectiveness of CIGS thin-film photovoltaics over the medium term.
According to Dr. Michael Powalla, head of the Photovoltaics Division at ZSW, "This record is for thin-film technology in general and not just CIGS solar cells....A major factor in achieving this top position was the close cooperation between basic research at the university, applied research at the ZSW, and production development at our industrial partner Würth Solar."
The next development step for ZSW will be to scale-up the cells for industrial application, although it will take awhile before the increased efficiency can be commercially utilized, said the report.
FTL Solar develops thin film-based fabric; targets new markets
FTL Solar is developing a lightweight, flexible tensile fabric with thin film solar panels to create a highly versatile solar fabric.
Such products have historically been developed for military bases, however, FTL Solar is targeting new business sectors.
FTL Solar is looking to target car parks, charging stations, disaster relief shelters, communication command centers, medical units, temporary housing, research posts, and energy pods for small villages.
Namely designed for parking lot shaded parking structures, rooftop building installations solutions, small and large solar tent structures, FTL Solar offers four main products: Power Park 1, Power Park 2, and PowerMods 1200M and 285 series.
In the case of the PowerPark II, each structure can generate roughly 20 kilowatt-hours (KwH) per day.
Sun Well Solar to invest $100m to generate 50MWp per annum
Sun Well Solar chairman Robert Wong disclosed strategy for the company's latest production plant in East China´s Nanjing, during the facility's pioneering ceremony.
According to Wong, the Taiwan-based manufacturer of a-Si thin-film PV modules would at first invest US$100 million to set up an annual capacity of 50MWp, said a Cyber Media report.
By 2015, total investment at the plant will reach US$6bn for an annual capacity of more than 300MWp.
He also added, the Nanjing plant has by now received 21MWp worth of orders.
The Nanjing capacity would concentrate on a-Si thin-film PV modules for the China marketplace which include high-margin products for building-integrated PV and agricultural solar greenhouses in the area, executives from its China operation said.
Wong revealed that Sun Well is running at full capacity with order visibility reaching the year 2011.
Industry sources said that Sun Well has shipped 2MWp of thin-film PV modules for different agricultural solar greenhouses in China.
The company is said to have received orders for solar greenhouse projects amounting to approximately 12MWp in Jiangsu and Heilongjiang provinces, said the report.
Thin film industry pioneer dies at 80
James L. Brown, who was the founding president of First Solar, the largest manufacturer of thin-film solar modules in the world, died at the age of 80 of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Mr. Brown was the first president of Solar Cells Inc., which became First Solar Inc., the Arizona-based firm that has its only U.S. manufacturing plant in Perrysburg Township.
Its 2009 revenues were $2.1bn.
His involvement with the solar-cell maker began with a visit from Harold McMaster, the inventor and physicist, according to his wife, Judy Brown.
"He came to Jim and said he thought he could build a solar-cell business, but he didn't want to do the business part. He wanted Jim to help him start it," Mrs. Brown said.
Before his involvement with Solar Cells, Mr. Brown was president of Sinclair Manufacturing Co., a maker of detergent and bleach owned by his wife's family that was sold to Purex in 1976.
