Technoeconomic Analysis of Photovoltaics Module Manufacturing with Thin Silicon Wafers

Liu Z, Sofia SE, Laine H, Woodhouse M, Wieghold S, Peters IM, Buonassisi T (2019)

Publication Type: Conference contribution

Publication year: 2019

Journal

Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

Pages Range: 136-139

Conference Proceedings Title: Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference

Event location: Chicago, IL, USA

ISBN: 9781728104942

DOI: 10.1109/PVSC40753.2019.8980702

Abstract

Reducing silicon usage by adopting thinner wafers can significantly reduce capital expenditure (capex) and cost, and thus accelerate the growth of manufacturing capacity and deployment. In this work, we evaluated potential benefits of thin Si wafers for current and future PV modules. We apply a technoeconomic framework that couples bottom-up cost model, and a cash-flow growth model to analyze PV modules with thin wafers. First, we show that, comparing the current PERC with 160 μm thick wafers to the high-efficiency concept with 50 μm thin wafers, the capex is reduced from 0.39 to 0.2 /(W/year) while the cost is from 0.32 to 0.2 W. Second, the potential of accelerated deployment is analyzed for the high-efficiency thin wafer concept. We found the significant advantages of higher growth rate (∼20% relative) and higher deployment plateau (∼3 times) than the current PERC modules.

Involved external institutions

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) US United States (USA) (US) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Liu, Z., Sofia, S.E., Laine, H., Woodhouse, M., Wieghold, S., Peters, I.M., & Buonassisi, T. (2019). Technoeconomic Analysis of Photovoltaics Module Manufacturing with Thin Silicon Wafers. In Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (pp. 136-139). Chicago, IL, USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc..

MLA:

Liu, Zhe, et al. "Technoeconomic Analysis of Photovoltaics Module Manufacturing with Thin Silicon Wafers." Proceedings of the 46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019, Chicago, IL, USA Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2019. 136-139.

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