Developments in Crystalline Silicon-based Photovoltaic Product Architecture and Manufacturing
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1210-Q01-05
Developments in Crystalline Silicon-Based Photovoltaic Product Architecture and Manufacturing Juris Kalejs, American Solar Technologies, North Chelmsford, MA 01863 USA ABSTRACT Solar electric (Photovoltaic) crystalline silicon (c-Si) product design and diversity has changed very little over three decades of development since the inception of the photovoltaic industry. The dominant module product comprising over 90% of cumulative installations, which exceed 15 GW worldwide, employs a ubiquitous planar laminate configuration. This paper reviews the history of development of this commodity product, and examines the scientific underpinnings of the materials base of the c-Si module platform, which has provided confidence for manufacturers to lengthen product performance warranties to the current 25 year standard. Recent trends in c-Si module design, materials and manufacturing methods will also be discussed. INTRODUCTION Embryonic elements of the c-Si photovoltaic (PV) module platform, which currently enjoys a dominant world-wide status as the commodity product underpinning the industry, were established in a period from 1975 to 1986 under the umbrella of the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) Flat Plate Solar Array (FSA) program [1]. Technical support and management were provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The FSA/JPL program laid down many of the module design rules in a series of product procurements, designated Block I to V, of demonstration modules from competitive bidding by subcontractors between 1976 and 1986. These procurements progressively scaled up the c-Si module platform from small ca. 0.1 m2 areas to the larger 1.5-2.5 m2 area modules which have become the commodity product of the PV industry today. In this process, a set of measurement tools to study performance, reliability and materials lifetime were established concurrently with the module area scale up, and ASTM testing protocols were created to standardize approaches and to provide metrics for module performance evaluation and component lifetime characterization. A critical element of the FSA program was to address market drivers which were crucial for commercial success of PV products. These were the product performance, reliability and safety guarantees set by module manufacturers over the lifetime of the product. These guarantees manifested themselves in the marketplace as the number of years of warranty which manufacturers were willing to underwrite over which output module performance, in particular, maintained a threshold level of peak power output. The performance lifetime and warranty standards perceived to be required by the market even in the early years of inception of the PV industry in the 1980’s were much greater than typical of most consumer products, and have continued to be extended until the present. The historic trend of the warranty length is shown in Fig. 1. Module architecture, that is, its design elements and material constituents, have virtually been frozen over the ensuing years since the Block V procure
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