Material Issues in the Commercialization of Amorphous Silicon Alloy Thin-Film Photovoltaic Technology

Abstract

ABSTRACTTwo significant developments took place in 1997 in the field of amorphous silicon alloy photovoltaic technology. First, a world record stable cell efficiency of 13% was demonstrated using a spectral-splitting, triple-junction structure. Second, a triple-junction photovoltaic manufacturing facility of an annual capacity of 5 MW was commissioned. In order to make the transition from R&D to production, critical material issues and deposition methods which ensure the lowest module cost per delivered watt needed to be evaluated. In this paper, we discuss some of these issues with special reference to the cell materials.