IBM, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo aim to make cheaper, user-friendly solar energy
IBM said its researchers have developed non-vacuum, solution-based manufacturing processes for CIGS solar cells with targeted efficiencies of approximately 15% and higher, compared to current thin film product efficiencies that vary from approximately 6% to less than 12%.
By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- EDN, June 16, 2008
To establish new, low-cost methods for bringing next generation solar energy products to market that are more affordable and easier to install than those available today, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co Ltd (TOK) and researchers at IBM’s Yorktown Heights, NY-based lab are collaborating to jointly develop processes, materials, and equipment suitable for the production of CIGS (copper-indium-gallium-selenide) solar cell modules.
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The relatively high-cost of electricity produced by solar cells compared to electricity from traditional sources like coal is currently a barrier to widespread adoption of solar energy however; use of thin film technology, such as CIGS, in the manufacturing of solar cells and modules holds promise in reducing the overall cost.
IBM reported today its researchers have developed non-vacuum, solution-based manufacturing processes for CIGS solar cells with targeted efficiencies of approximately 15% and higher, compared to current thin film product efficiencies that vary from approximately 6% to less than 12%.
Further, IBM said it will combine its technology with the coating technique and high purity chemicals of TOK, which it gained from manufacturing semiconductors and LCD panels, in order to bring large scale production of thin-film solar cells to market.
The companies explained that despite the abundance of solar power, current solar cell systems largely rely on silicon for their conversion function, which are comparatively less efficient and more expensive than other energy sources. Enter thin-film CIGS solar cells which can be 100x thinner than silicon-wafer cells, can be deposited on cheap glass substrates, and as a result have a correspondingly lower cost.
Thin-film solar cells also have the advantage of the ability to be arranged on a flexible backing, suitable for the tops and sides of buildings, tinted windows, and other surfaces. Solution processing allows “printing” onto a rolled backing of a flexible module, or a glass plate, eliminating many of the high energy and equipment intensive processes that are typical in conventional photovoltaic manufacturing.
IBM Research noted that it is exploring four main areas of photovoltaic research: using current technologies to develop cheaper and more efficient silicon solar cells; developing new solution-processed thin-film photovoltaic devices; concentrator photovoltaics; and future generation photovoltaic architectures based upon nanostructures such as semiconductor quantum dots and nanowires.
“Our goal is to develop more efficient photovoltaic structures that would reduce the cost, minimize the complexity, and improve the flexibility of producing solar electric power. Now, IBM's advanced technology combined with TOK's expertise in equipment design and manufacture, have the potential to broaden the use of alternative energy sources,” said Dr. Tze-Chiang Chen, IBM VP of science and technology at IBM Research, in a statement.
In other solar news today, in order to stimulate demand and development for renewable energy sources, Intel Corpis entering the solar cell industry byspinning off key assets of a start-up business effort inside its new business initiatives group to form an independent company, SpectraWatt Inc with Intel’s investment organization, Intel Capital, leading a $50 million investment round.
